This Week at NASA: Managing Unmanned Aircraft Traffic and More

An April 19 event at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, showcased the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) prototype the agency is developing for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
With coordination from Ames, operators of non-NASA unmanned aircraft or drones used the system to conduct simultaneous test flights, with some 20 drones at six FAA-approved locations around the country. During the test, Ames engineers used the traffic management prototype to monitor the flights remotely and gather qualitative feedback that will help further develop and refine the system. With this research, NASA and the FAA hope to address the need for a system to safely integrate unmanned aircraft into the nation’s airspace. Also, Earth Day Kick-off, A Beautiful Planet Premiere, First Major SLS Flight Hardware, SLS Test Stand Progress, Solar Electric Propulsion for Deep Space Exploration, and An Anniversary Bubble for Hubble.