Future Flight Central Simulates Airports

Future Flight Central is a facility, which simulates airport control towers. Housed in a two-story building at NASA Ames Research Center, it is the world's only walk-in, full-scale, 360-degree simulator.

The simulator can be used to simulate the air traffic control tower of an airport. By using it to simulate design changes before they are built. Air traffic controllers can test the new design simulation and give feedback to the designers saving costly design mistakes. The simulator will also measure the efficiency of air traffic management to improve the delays caused by the increased number of users.

The simulator can hold up to twelve air traffic controllers. Instead of looking out the windows you look at window-sized video projections of computer animations. The simulator can give both day and night views and even simulate fog and snow. Each controller position has a console showing radar, weather maps, runway lights, and touch control screens.

The simulation can show either the control tower's point of view or the pilot's point of view and allows for voice and data communications from ground to tower and from the tower to the air. For more information go to http://ffc.arc.nasa.gov