NASA researchers Friday began flight
tests of computer software that shows promise in improving flight
efficiency and reducing environmental impacts of aircraft, especially
on communities around airports.
Known as ASTAR, or Airborne Spacing for
Terminal Arrival Routes, the software is designed to give pilots
specific speed information and guidance so that planes can be more
precisely spaced, enabling pilots to fly a "follow the leader"
approach to their destination airport.
This type of approach would minimize
flight path deviations, allow more efficient use of existing airspace
and possibly reduce noise over communities surrounding airports –
all of which could lead to reductions in commercial flight delays.
The software is being tested on
the Boeing ecoDemonstrator 787 Test Airplane as part of The
Boeing Company’s ecoDemonstrator Program, a multi-year effort that
aims to identify and accelerate the development and testing of new
technologies and methods that can potentially reduce the
environmental impacts of aviation.
During the flight tests, NASA engineer
Roy Roper operates ASTAR on a laptop in the rear of the aircraft. As
a second aircraft flies in front of the ecoDemonstrator 787, ASTAR
computes and displays the speed required to follow safely behind.
Roper then communicates those speed commands to the ecoDemonstrator
787 pilots.
The ASTAR experiment is the first of
several NASA tests flying aboard the ecoDemonstrator Test Airplanes.
During the spring and summer of 2015, the ecoDemonstrator 757 Test
Airplane will host two NASA experiments. The first involves using
active flow control technologies on the aircraft's tail to determine
if future tail designs can be altered to reduce drag. The second will
test the effectiveness of coatings applied to the leading edge of a
wing section to reduce turbulence-inducing buildup of insect residue.
