Dec. 6, 1999
Michael Mewhinney
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

(Phone: 650/604-3937, 650/604-9000)
mmewhinney@mail.arc.nasa.gov

NOTE TO EDITORS: 99-79AR

NEWS MEDIA INVITED TO TOUR NEW VIRTUAL AIRPORT CONTROL TOWER

On Friday, Dec. 10, news media are invited to tour, film and photograph
NASA's new "FutureFlight Central," the world's first full-scale virtual
airport control tower.  Reporters will also have the opportunity to
conduct
interviews of key facility personnel from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (PST).  A
formal ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility will be held on Monday,
Dec. 13, at 9:00 a.m. (PST) with guest registration starting at 8:30 a.m.
(PST).

Located at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, FutureFlight
Central is designed to test -- under realistic airport conditions and
configurations -- ways to combat potential air and runway traffic problems
at commercial airports.

In addition to being able to film and photograph the facility's interior,
including a 360-degree simulation of San Francisco International Airport
in
the tower cab, news media may interview FutureFlight Central Facility
Manager Nancy Dorighi and other facility personnel.  News media should
stop
by the Visitor Badging Office, located at the main gate, Moffett Federal
Airfield, to obtain visitor passes needed to gain entry.

Constructed at a cost of $10 million, the two-story facility was jointly
funded by NASA's Advanced Air Transportation Technologies Office and the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).   The facility is dedicated to the
memory of Stanton R. Harke, the facility's first project manager, who
passed away on April 25, 1999 at the age of 58 following an 18-month
battle
with cancer.

Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall, Moffett Field, CA, served as project
engineers.  Other project partners include Oracle Corp., Redwood Shores,
CA, and SGI, Mountain View, CA.  Representatives from the FAA's air
traffic
control supervisors committee and the National Air Traffic Controller's
Association, as well as the Air Transport Association, participated in all
phases of the facility's design.

Images of the facility are available via the Internet at the following
URL:

 			http://ffc.arc.nasa.gov

-end-