Dorighi made a presentation about the new NASA simulator during the forum. The facility can house as many as a dozen air traffic controllers, and it can represent the busiest U.S. airport towers in size and capability. I see this as a strong vote of confidence for NASA to continue to apply its expertise in information technology to civil aviation problems. The airport is planning changes to increase its efficiency in an attempt to reduce delays that now plague the airport during bad weather. The simulator's artificial world changes in real time.
Scenes evolve, in the same manner that real-world changes occur.
In the simulator world, airplanes not only come and go, but weather changes. Consoles are at each controller's location showing radar, weather maps, runway lights and touch-screen controls as well as other readouts. After putting a new airport data set into the computers, FutureFlight Central researchers can switch to the new artificial airport in moments. Rearranging furniture in the simulator will take longer than activating a new computerized airport, Ames technicians noted.