No one wants to get into an uncomfortable aircraft. NASA research could help the emerging industry of air taxis —small, vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft meant for short trips — understand the relationship between comfort and willingness to fly. That’s where NASA comes in, with data that can help identify how to plan air taxi rides that can […]
Category: Drones & You
NASA Investigates How People Respond to Air Taxi Noise
New kinds of aircraft taking to the skies could mean unfamiliar sounds overhead — and where you’re hearing them might matter, according to new NASA research. NASA aeronautics has worked for years to enable new air transportation options for people and goods, and to find ways to make sure they can be safely and effectively […]
NASA, Partners Push Forward with Remotely Piloted Airspace Integration
NASA and its partners recently tested a tool for remotely piloted operations that could enable operators to transport people and goods more efficiently within urban areas. The team’s goal is to ensure that when these remotely piloted aircraft – including electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs) – take to the skies, air traffic controllers […]
NASA Tests Tools to Assess Drone Safety Over Cities
A future with advanced air mobility aircraft populating the skies will require the U.S. to implement enhanced preflight planning that can mitigate potential risks well before takeoff – and NASA is working to develop the tools to make that happen. Preflight planning is critical to ensuring safety in the complex, high-risk environments of the future […]
NASA Tests Research Aircraft to Improve Air Taxi Flight Controls
Flying the friendly skies may one day include time-saving trips in air taxis to get from point A to point B – and NASA researchers are currently working to make that future a reality. They are using wind tunnel and flight tests to gather data on an electric Vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) scaled-down small […]
NASA Uses Wind Tunnel to Test Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Wing
The advanced air mobility industry is currently working to produce novel aircraft ranging from air taxis to autonomous cargo drones, and all of those designs will require extensive testing – which is why NASA is working to give them a head-start by studying a special kind of model wing. The wing is a scale model […]
NASA Drop Test Supports Safer Air Taxi Design and Certification
As the aviation industry works to develop new air taxis and other electric aircraft made from innovative, lightweight materials, there’s a growing need to understand how those materials behave under impact. That’s why NASA is investigating potential air taxi materials and designs that could best protect passengers in the event of a crash. On June […]
NASA Drop Test Supports Safer Air Taxi Design and Certification
As the aviation industry works to develop new air taxis and other electric aircraft made from innovative, lightweight materials, there’s a growing need to understand how those materials behave under impact. That’s why NASA is investigating potential air taxi materials and designs that could best protect passengers in the event of a crash. On June […]
NASA Tests 5G-Based Aviation Network to Boost Air Taxi Connectivity
NASA engineers are exploring how the technology used in existing cellphone networks could support the next generation of aviation. In April and May, researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland built two specialized radio systems to study how well fifth-generation cellular network technology, known as 5G, can handle the demands of air taxi communications. […]
NASA Air Taxi Passenger Comfort Studies Move Forward
NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility vision involves the skies above the U.S. filled with new types of aircraft, including air taxis. But making that vision a reality involves ensuring that people will actually want to ride these aircraft – which is why NASA has been working to evaluate comfort, to see what passengers will and won’t […]