1

QUARTER 2: JAN–MAR 2012

Airspace Systems 

Program Newsletter

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

p2 EFICA RTT’s IMSPiDR1 Efforts 

Wrapping Up

p12 Peninsula High School 

Students Learn About Air 

Traffic Control Careers
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

EFICA RTT’s IMSPiDR1 Efforts Wrapping Up, 

April 2012

Most air transportation forecasts predict increases in 

both the number of passengers that will travel by way 

of U.S. commercial air carriers and in the number of 

cargo and passenger aircraft. If the efficiency of current operations is not improved, this projected increase 

in flight operations will lead to greater noise, pollution, delays, fuel costs, and infrastructure requirements. 

Airports are a critical node in this complex network. A 

key to airport efficiency is the ability to schedule, and 

then manage, the aircraft-to-aircraft spacing at runway 

thresholds. Increasing runway throughput through 

precision control is one method that can minimize the 

need for new infrastructure, and airborne spacing has 

been proposed as a viable way to effectively increase 

that runway throughput. The most challenging and 

complex situation is arrival operations to parallel 

dependent runways. There are complexities not present 

for arrivals to single or parallel independent runways. 

Airborne precision spacing tools must be able to compensate for runway threshold offset and change aircraft 

separation minimums once both are on their respective 

final approach path to the parallel runways.

NASA research of precision control for arrival operations began in the 1970s by exploring “constant distance” and “constant time” spacing techniques along a 

common trajectory. In 2006, the NASA research team 

joined the Interval Management (IM) working group, 

led by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Sur-

// Technical/Programmatic Highlights 

Figure 1. Separation minima for dependent parallel approaches.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

veillance Broadcast Services (SBS) Office. This group 

contains members from the FAA, controllers, pilots, 

researchers, and aircraft avionic manufactures, and 

drafted a concept of operations for air traffic management procedures that would capitalize on the aircraft’s 

onboard ability to precisely control to an assigned 

spacing. In IM, the flight crew is responsible for flying 

their aircraft at a speed that achieves their assigned 

spacing interval at the runway threshold, while Air 

Traffic Control (ATC) remains responsible for ensuring that all aircraft maintain safe separation. In 2008, 

NASA and the FAA also agreed to include this body 

of work in the Efficient Flows into Congested Airspace Research Transition Team (EFICA RTT). Initial 

efforts focused on single runway operations; however, 

several airports routinely conduct parallel approach 

operations and subsequent efforts incorporated this 

increasing complexity. Over the last several years, the 

concepts, procedures and algorithms from these joint 

efforts have matured into a trajectory-based algorithm 

that accommodates complex route structures arriving 

to the airport from all directions. 

The IM with Spacing (IM-S) concept employs both a 

ground-based scheduling component and a flight deckbased spacing component. The ground-based component is software that creates an optimized schedule of 

arrival times for all aircraft to each runway, the spacing 

between those aircraft, and then provides the controller a message to send to the flight crew. The controller 

sends the message and delegates control of the aircraft’s 

speed to the flight crew for them to achieve this precise 

spacing at the runway threshold. The flight-deck based 

spacing software, called Airborne Spacing for Terminal 

Arrival Routes (ASTAR), calculates the speed for the 

crew to fly based on the specified 4D trajectory of their 

aircraft and traffic to follow to achieve the assigned 

spacing interval. As depicted in the illustrations in 

Figure 1, the spacing tool onboard the IM aircraft 

(#3) receives the ADS-B broadcasted position of the 

lead in-trail aircraft (#1) and parallel aircraft (#2). 

The algorithm calculates the required speed to achieve 

the assigned interval behind the aircraft proceeding 

to the same runway, and the speed to achieve the 

assigned interval behind the aircraft proceeding to 

the parallel runway. 

Interval Management with Spacing to Parallel Dependent Runways (IMSPiDR1) was a human-in-the-loop 

experiment conducted in June 2011 at NASA Langley 

with 24 commercial pilots flying arrivals to runways 

using dependent parallel operations at Dallas FortWorth airport (DFW). The overall goal of the experiment was to examine the ability of airborne spacing 

software and procedures to support ATC by precisely 

delivering aircraft at the runway in both in-trail and 

dependent parallel runway operations.

The experiment extends previous research by evaluating the latest version of ASTAR10 which supports 

parallel dependent runway operations while maintaining the ability to support IM-S and Required Time of 

Arrival (RTA) operations, and by continuing to refine 

the pilot interface associated with the use of the algorithm’s speed guidance. Research objectives included: 
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

1) examining the algorithm’s performance in terms of 

the precision of aircraft delivery to the runway threshold and the stability of the aircraft arrival streams, 

2) observing flight crew interactions with the algorithm, 

3) evaluating requirements for ATC-flight crew communication via Controller-Pilot Datalink Communication (CPDLC), and 4) collecting pilots’ reported 

workload levels and ratings of the acceptability of 

NASA’s IM-S concept, procedures, speed guidance, and 

pilot interface. 

Results addressing the first objective indicate that 

pilots delivered their aircraft to the runway threshold 

within +/- 3.5 seconds of their assigned arrival time and 

reported that both the IM-S and RTA procedures were 

associated with low workload levels. In support of the 

second objective, pilots in general found the IM-S concept, procedures, speeds, and interface acceptable; with 

92% of pilots rating the procedures as complete and 

logical, and 63% of pilots reporting that the displays 

were easy to understand and displayed in appropriate locations. Concerns cited included the occurrence 

of multiple speed changes within a short time period, 

speed changes required within twenty miles of the 

runway, and an increase in airspeed followed shortly by 

a decrease in airspeed. 

The results addressing the third objective were very 

successful, with the mean time under 43 seconds for 

the flight crew to load the clearance into the IM spacing tool, review the calculated speed, and respond to 

ATC. An overall mean rating of ‘Moderately Agree’ 

was given when the crews were asked if the use of 

CPDLC was operationally acceptable as simulated in 

this experiment. Approximately half of the flight crew 

reported the use of CPDLC below 10,000 feet for 

IM operations was unacceptable, with 83% reporting 

below 5000 feet was unacceptable. Also described are 

proposed modifications to the IM operations that may 

reduce CPDLC ‘Respond’ time to less than 30 seconds 

and should significantly reduce the complexity of crew 

procedures, as well as follow-on research issues for 

operational use of CPDLC during IM operations.

While the formal results from the first objective are 

waiting to be published, complete papers documenting 

the results from the second and third objective mentioned above can be found at:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/ 

20110015876_2011016836.pdf and 

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/ 

20110015885_2011016849.pdf 

(POC: Brian Baxley)

Expanded Discussion About Use of PDRC, 

January 2012

NASA and FAA discussed forming a collaborative 

effort to improve the FAA’s coupling of advanced 

airspace and surface air traffic tools for Dulles International Airport (near Washington, D.C.). To enable 

the transfer of information from an automated surface scheduling tool to an airspace management tool, 

the FAA is exploring the NASA-developed Precision 

Departure Release Capability (PDRC). PDRC enables 

the automatic transfer of predicted take-off surface 
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

information to improve en-route and arrival scheduling 

at other airports. It was tested at the Dallas-Fort Worth 

(DFW) Airport in 2011 and plans include continued 

DFW field evaluations. This FAA project is expected 

to continue for multiple years with increasingly more 

complex field evaluations in each successive year. 

(POC: Shawn Engelland)

ATM Data Warehouse Upgrade Complete, 

January 2012

The NextGen Air Traffic Management (ATM) Data 

Warehouse has been upgraded to support remote access 

and user-specific customizations by all NASA researchers and research partners. The ATM Data Warehouse is 

a secure, web-based user interface to an Oracle database 

currently containing eight terabytes of raw and processed air traffic and weather data for the United States. 

The warehouse contains two years of recorded and processed data so far, and is growing by 300 gigabytes per 

month. The processed data include all relevant sources 

of flight and weather data, including recorded radar 

feeds and national traffic data from many FAA facilities. 

The warehouse also includes several types of wind and 

convective weather data and predictions for the airport surface as well as en-route airspace. The processed 

data types are searchable and represent critical analyses 

of general interest, broken down by date, time, and 

location. The processed data include airport landing 

rates, national and local delays, national traffic advisories, and the impact of convective weather on flight 

routing. More functions are being added continuously 

based on the needs of ATM researchers at both Ames 

and Langley Research Centers. For additional information on access, NASA researchers and research partners 

are encouraged to contact Michelle Eshow at Michelle.

Eshow@nasa.gov for a data warehouse account. 

(POC: Michelle Eshow)

NASA/US Airways Collaboration Meeting, 

January 2012

Researchers and managers from NASA and US Airways 

met at Ames Research Center to discuss joint research 

and development efforts to improve surface operations 

at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). 

NASA researchers presented current research activities and surface simulation capabilities to US Airways 

The Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA) helps 

to improve the efficiency of airport surface operations involving the ramps, spots, taxiways, and runways.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

representatives and also demonstrated the Spot And 

Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA) tool at NASA’s 

FutureFlight Central (FFC) simulation facility. SARDA, 

a decision support tool for tower controllers, is undergoing continued development and preparations for 

an FY12 human-in-the-loop simulation. US Airways 

presented an overview of airline operations at CLT, the 

tools that are being used by ramp operators, and the 

simulation tool that is being used for developing traffic 

plans. Both research teams discussed topics for collaboration, including data sharing/analysis, development 

of an operational concept of a tool for both airline 

and ATC operations, modeling and simulation of 

CLT operations, and conducting a field evaluation of a 

developed tool. Both NASA and US Airways agreed to 

take the next steps to develop a formal plan for collaboration. (POC: Yoon Jung)

DWR Planning Meeting with American 

Airlines and Fort Worth Center, 

January 2012

“When can we start?” That was the response from 

Captain Jeff Osborne, managing director of the American Airlines System Operations Center (SOC), following a meeting and demonstration of the Dynamic 

Weather Routes (DWR) tool at the NASA/FAA North 

Texas (NTX) field site. Capt. Osborne, Des Keany, 

head of flight planning, and others from American Airlines along with the Fort Worth Center (ZFW) Traffic 

Management Officer Sam Pacifico, participated in discussions about the proposed DWR operating concept 

and a potential operational trial of the DWR technology in 2012. The operating concept calls for DWR 

automation at NTX with dispatcher displays at the 

American SOC and traffic management coordinator 

displays at the ZFW Traffic Management Unit. Both 

American Airlines and Fort Worth Center management 

strongly support a field trial of DWR at Fort Worth 

Center. NASA researchers are working to formalize 

FAA Headquarters support and to complete development and testing for the DWR operational trial. (POC: 

Dave McNally)

Two Air Quality NRAs Begin, January 2012 

The NRA team led by Dr. Steven Barrett from MIT, 

which includes Mosaic ATM and ATAC, presented 

their research plan for the assessment of ozone (O3) 

and particulate matter (PM) impacts due to airport surface operations. Surface operations play a major part in 

the efficiency of the air transportation system, and the 

Example of a dynamic weather reroute.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

impacts of fuel burn, emissions, air quality, and noise 

at and near airports are of great interest to the public. 

O3 and PM are of particular importance to air quality, 

more so as many major U.S. airports lie in environmental non-attainment areas. The approach will include 

the development and validation of real-time models 

that evaluate emissions impacts (and the associated air 

quality impacts) of aircraft surface operations. A goal 

is to include these models with one of NASA’s Surface 

Decision Support tools and develop a plan for the integration of the proposed models with the FAA’s Aviation 

Environmental Design Tool (AEDT). Specific topics 

included a description of NASA’s surface research, a 

description of the roles of each team member, overview 

of air quality models, and methods to estimate ground 

fuel burn.

Dr. Brian Kim (Wyle) and Dr. Saravanan Arunachalam (University of North Carolina) presented their 

plans to develop modeling capabilities for predicting 

air quality impacts due to aircraft movements near 

airports. NASA is currently researching how to shorten 

the amount of time an aircraft spends taxiing before 

takeoff to alleviate some of the congestion on the airport surface. Reduced taxi times will help to eliminate 

unnecessary fuel burn, resulting in fewer emissions and 

less impact on the environment. A goal of this research 

is to translate those impacts into air quality metrics for 

particulate matter and tropospheric ozone. During this 

meeting the team presented an overview of air quality 

models and their work plan. 

(POC: William N. Chan)

Airport Surface Management NRA Kickoff 

Meeting, February 2012

NASA hosted the NRA kickoff meeting on the topic 

of Airport Surface Management Requirements Resulting from Variation in Airport Characteristics. Dr. Steve 

Atkins from Mosaic ATM, principal investigator of the 

effort, presented the scope of the work and discussed 

work plans for the base year with NASA researchers. 

NASA’s Safe and Efficient Surface Operations (SESO) 

research focus area has developed and studied a Spot 

and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA), which plans 

spot crossing times and runway sequences for departures at DFW. The high-level goal of this NRA is to 

help NASA extend its airport surface traffic management (ASTM) research to other airports. To accomplish 

this the NRA will consider the characteristics that affect 

what types of ASTM functions are needed at an airport, 

and will model three airports with different characteristics such as number of spots, runway geometry, and 

number of taxi queues feeding each runway departure 

end. Using these characteristics, Mosaic will model 

SARDA and possible SARDA extensions, such as runway assignment or taxi routing advisories, in Mosaic’s 

Metroplex Simulation Environment. Lastly, the NRA 

will perform fast-time simulations to understand which 

ASTM functions are most relevant as a function of the 

airport characteristics.

(POC: Ty Hoang)
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

Bowe and Santiago Recognized 

by the NSBE for Outstanding Technical 

Contribution, February 2012

“Evaluation of a Fuel-Efficient Maneuver for Conflict 

Resolution” was recognized from among 40 other technical papers across all tracks at the recent National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE) Aerospace Conference 

to receive the award for Outstanding Technical Contribution. The paper quantifies the potential operational 

benefits of using a combined speed-reduction/direct-to 

maneuver to resolve projected aircraft conflicts on a 

5- to 20-minute time horizon. In a February ceremony, 

authors Aisha Bowe and Confesor Santiago were cited 

for the exceptional quality, innovation and experimentation reflected in their work. 

(POC: Aisha Bowe)

NASA/FAA Team Reviews Dynamic 

Airspace Research, February 2012

A meeting of the NASA/FAA Research Transition 

Team (RTT) for Dynamic Airspace Configuration 

Dr. Edward Tunstel (left) and Reginald Gillins (right), 

(NSBE Technical Program Co-Chairs) present the Outstanding Technical Contribution Award to Aisha Bowe 

(center) of NASA’s Ames Research Center.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

(DAC) was hosted by the Air Traffic Control System 

Command Center, located in Warrenton, Virginia 

(Washington, D.C. area). There were more than 

20 participants representing NASA, FAA, and MITRE/

CAASD. NASA researchers presented their work on an 

analysis of Cleveland Center airspace redesign and the 

development of an advisory tool that helps supervisors 

dynamically allocate available controller and airspace 

resources to match air traffic demand. The NASA team 

received valuable feedback from FAA personnel about 

operational and programmatic considerations. FAA 

participants provided briefings on current projects for 

improving operations in the National Airspace System. 

The general consensus is that NASA’s DAC research 

is supportive of long-term NextGen advancements. 

(POCs: Karl Bilimoria, Michael Bloem)

PDRC Operational Evaluation Walkthrough, 

February 2012

NASA and FAA recently participated in a walkthrough of operational evaluation scenarios for the 

Precision Departure Release Capability (PDRC). NASA 

has developed PDRC to improve tactical departure 

operations through the use of surface information for 

en route tactical departure scheduling systems. FAA 

traffic management coordinators from Fort Worth 

ARTCC and Dallas/Fort Worth TRACON and Towers 

exercised the PDRC system during the overview in the 

North Texas (NTX) Research Station laboratory. NASA 

researchers presented the FAA operational personnel 

with various display configurations and evaluation 

usage scenarios. The FAA participants provided valuable feedback that the research team is using to refine 

the system configuration and test plan. Elements of 

the PDRC system are currently being deployed to FAA 

operational areas in preparation for the operational 

evaluation to be conducted this spring. 

(POC: Shawn Engelland)

SARDA Pre-Sim Systems Checkout, 

February 2012

The SARDA team brought in two retired DFW 

controllers as Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs) to aid 

with system checkout of SARDA prior to data collection runs. Their expertise was sought for the following topics: 1) Future Flight Central’s out-the-window 

(OTW) visuals, 2) electronic flight strips (EFS), 3) use 

of traffic management initiatives (TMI), 4) scenario 

A PDRC walkthrough at North Texas (NTX) Research 

Station Laboratory.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

traffic files, and 5) operational use. Feedback for the 

OTW was minimal, requiring just some background 

color changes (from sandy to shrubbery green) to allow 

more contrast of arrivals prior to touchdown. The aircraft models have also been upgraded to reflect current 

air carrier flags, flight IDs, and call sign usage (especially for merging airlines, United/Continental and 

AmericaWest/US Airways). As a result of the week’s 

testing, the SARDA team will re-evaluate the need for 

representing the Runway 17L arrivals. The amount of 

traffic placed upon the 17L arrival would nominally 

warrant the opening of a second local controller position and the use of the perimeter taxiway. The SME’s 

recommendation is to remove the 17L traffic, thus 

elimination of the use of the perimeter taxiway, and 

the second local position. The SME’s also gave recommendations on scenario generation and traffic loading 

profile as well as operational procedures for the pseudopilot to adopt for next system checkout. The team 

will use these recommendations to refine the SARDA 

algorithms and user interfaces to reduce simulation 

distraction and place focus on the SARDA technologies 

during the data collection runs. System checkout #3 

will take place in April with the simulation occurring 

prior to the end of fiscal year. 

(POC: Ty Hoang)

Observation of Charlotte Airport Surface 

Operation, February 2012

Researchers from NASA and NRA partners Saab Sensis traveled to North Carolina to observe flight operations on the surface at Charlotte Douglas International 

Airport. They toured both the FAA air traffic control 

tower and the US Airways ramp control tower. Valuable information about gate, ramp, taxi, and runway 

procedures, in addition to first hand observations from 

the towers, was collected. The information will be used 

to enhance NASA’s fast-time simulation of airport flight 

operations, named the Surface Operation Simulator 

and Scheduler (SOSS). SOSS is being used to develop 

Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.

The Surface Operation Simulator and Scheduler.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

tools for sequencing and scheduling departures and runway crossings at busy airports. The tools are designed 

to reduce the time that flights must wait on the taxiway 

before takeoff. Less time spent on the taxiway translates 

to less fuel burn, emissions, and noise at the airport. 

(POC: Robert Windhorst)

Air Traffic Management Future Concepts 

Team Meeting, February 2012

Senior FAA and airline representatives from the 

Future Concepts Team received a review of NASA’s Air 

Traffic Management work during their visit to NASA’s 

Ames Research Center. The team is part of the Collaborative Decision Making group, which is a joint FAA/

industry initiative aimed at improving air traffic flow 

management through increased information exchange 

among aviation community stakeholders. During this 

meeting, NASA provided updates of their Air Traffic 

Management research as well as updates to FAA-funded 

work. FAA-funded work is aimed at understanding 

how Traffic Management Initiatives performed and 

how previous performance can inform future decisions. This effort includes database development as well 

as machine learning research to develop relationships 

among disparate datasets. NASA also presented their 

work in airport surface scheduling, en-route dynamic 

weather routing, dynamic airspace configuration, and 

controller managed spacing. The team also received 

tours of the Vertical Motion Simulator, FutureFlight 

Center, Crew-Vehicle Systems Research Facility, and 

wind tunnels. During the last day, the FAA and airlines 

hosted a panel discussion on future concepts. This 

meeting was also reported in the Collaborative Decision-Making Group’s February newsletter. 

(POC: Kapil Sheth and Joey Rios)

ATD-1/REACT Simulations, March 2012 

The ATD-1/REACT simulations in Ames’ Aviation 

Systems Division’s Air Traffic Control Simulation Lab 

included FAA and NATCA participants and studied 

the effects of integrating new Area Navigation/Required Navigation Performance (RNAV/RNP) enabling technologies into the Terminal Area Precision 

Scheduling and Spacing (TAPSS) System. The simulation controllers, funded and supplied by the FAA, 

conducted 15 simulation exercises during high demand 

periods. Using the NASA tools, the controllers were 

able to provide more PBN (Performance Based Navigation) clearances and maintain higher throughput. The 

simulation hosted FAA visitors Rob Hunt, NextGen 

solution set coordinator, and Balinda Moreland, timebased flow management lead technical engineer. The 

simulation was also witnessed by Aeronautics Research 

Future Concepts Team panel discussion.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

Mission Directorate Associate Administrator Jaiwon 

Shin, Boeing Chief Technical Officer John Tracy, and 

directors for NASA’s Fundamental Aeronautics and 

Airspace Systems Programs.

(POC: John Robinson)

Peninsula High School Students Learn 

About Air Traffic Control Careers, 

March 2012

A group of ninth-grade students from San Mateo 

High School, Calif., were given a unique opportunity 

to transfer problem-solving skills from the classroom 

to the real world. NASA and the Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) hosted a field trip packed with 

authentic air traffic control experiences for the students at the FAA’s Oakland Air Route Traffic Control 

Center in Fremont, Calif. The two-hour field trip was 

part of NASA and the FAA’s partnership in promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics 

(STEM) education and related careers using a NASA 

education project called “Smart Skies.” The project 

uses the theme of air traffic control to connect mathematics, problem solving, and decision-making skills 

to the real world.

NASA’s Ames Research Center welcomes ATD-1/REACT simulation participants.
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

“When air traffic controllers guide planes from 

departure to arrival, it’s all math and science behind 

the scenes,” said Tom Davis, chief of the Aviation System Division at NASA’s Ames Research Center, 

Moffett Field, Calif. “Math is the foundation to many 

things you will want to do in life,” Davis told the 

students assembled in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) 

conference room.

Seated in the executive chairs used by air traffic 

controllers when briefed each morning, the 15 students also were briefed on the field trip’s agenda, which 

included a tour of the control room floor, a training 

exercise in the Dynamic Simulation (DySim) laboratory, and an opportunity to test their skills on iPads 

via a NASA air traffic control mobile game called 

“Sector 33.”

In preparation for the field trip, the students used 

NASA’s Smart Skies “LineUp With Math” web-based 

simulator in the classroom to learn the proportional 

reasoning skills used to solve real-life distance-rate-time 

problems in air traffic control. The Sector 33 game 

is based on Smart Skies LineUp With Math, and is 

Students were given a unique opportunity to transfer problem-solving skills from the classroom to the real world. 

Image credit: NASA Ames Research Center / Dominic Hart
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

a mobile application currently available for the iPad, 

iPhone, and iPod touch. Both products were developed 

under the direction of NASA’s Aeronautics Research 

Mission Directorate and distributed in cooperation 

with the Federal Aviation Administration and National 

Air Traffic Controllers Association. The math-focused 

games align with the NASA Office of Education’s mission to engage students in activities related to science, 

technology, engineering and mathematics.

“After students learned how to use Smart Skies and 

were given time to practice it, they started showing 

initiative. They started moving on to more advanced 

mathematical problem-solving by themselves,” said 

Marco Rainaldi, the students’ mathematics teacher who 

has been teaching the subject for the past seven years.

In the DySim lab, students received instruction 

from air traffic controllers about how to use computer 

training modules that are used by their own personnel. 

“This is the ultimate video game,” one teacher told a 

student. “But you have to be right every time.”

NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hosted a field trip for a group of ninth-grade students from San 

Mateo High School, Calif., at the FAA’s Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center in Fremont, Calif. 

Image credit: NASA Ames Research Center / Dominic Hart
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

Students moved from one activity to another, sharing 

their reactions with each other about the games they 

played, the people they met, and the technology they 

saw, practiced and used in the DySim lab. When the 

field trip ended, Melissa Holmes, staff manager of the 

Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center, extended a 

fond farewell, and students filed out the door still talking about all that they had seen and done.

“With the Smart Skies education project and realworld events such as this one today, NASA and the FAA 

are taking math from the chalkboard and making it real 

to these students,” said Davis.

The Sector 33 mobile game application may be 

downloaded free of charge at: http://www.nasa.gov/

sector33

(POC: Rebecca Green)

Airspace Systems Technologies Featured 

in Aerospace America, April 2012

As part four in their series on Aircraft and the Environment, Aerospace America featured the research of 

NASA’s Airspace Systems Program as its cover story in 

the April 2012 edition. The article entitled “Getting 

from Gate to Gate” discussed the technology and software that is being developed to improve the efficiency 

of aircraft departures, arrivals, cruise trajectories, and 

ground-based movement while maintaining safe distances between planes. Program and project managers 

were interviewed for this article including Aeronautics 

Research Mission Directorate Associate Administrator 

Jaiwon Shin. Aerospace America is a monthly publication of the American Institute for Aeronautics and 

Astronautics.

Read the article here:

http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/pdf/apr2012_getting_

gate_to_gate.pdf

(POC: Michael Braukus)
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Airspace Systems Program Newsletter: Quarter 2, JAN–MAR 2012

ADS-B Collaboration, March 2012

NASA and the FAA recently agreed to extend 

NASA Langley employee John Koelling’s temporary 

assignment to the FAA for one additional year. John 

will continue to provide expertise to accelerate the 

transition of the Automatic Dependent SurveillanceBroadcast (ADS-B) applications from research to development and implementation.

(POC: John Koelling)

Farley Receives 2011 AA Award, April 2012

Todd Farley, of NASA’s Ames Research Center, was 

awarded the 2011 ARMD Associate Administrator 

Leadership and Management Excellence Award at an 

awards ceremony held in April at NASA Headquarters. Farley received the award for his leadership of the 

Efficient Descent Advisor (EDA) and 3D-Path Arrival 

Management (3D-PAM) research efforts and for guiding those efforts to a successful technology transition 

to the Federal Aviation Administration. Farley helped 

NASA and partners achieve understanding of goals 

and responsibilities, organized and mentored teams 

to address requirements, and served as the primary 

interface between each of NASA’s technical leads 

and the FAA’s lead, overcoming many challenging 

management obstacles.

 Read about Farley and the other 2011 AA Award 

recipients here: 

http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/aa_awards.htm

(POC: Tom Davis)

(l to r) ARMD Deputy Associate Administrator Tom 

Irvine, award recipient Todd Farley, ARMD Associate 

Administrator Jaiwon Shin.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Headquarters

300 E. Street, SW

Washington, DC 20024

www.aeronautics.nasa.gov

www.nasa.gov