Photo: NASA
A number of years ago, NASA committed to lending a hand to technologies being developed not for use in space, but right here on Earth. This year, the agency’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) program has entered its final stages, and the first results will be visible at the end of the week in the skies above one Texan city.
On Friday, August 15, NASA is inviting media to see how its drones can cope in the skies over Corpus Christi, Texas. According to the organization, the drones will be flying at altitudes between 200 and 400 feet.
Flying drones is a pretty straightforward activity, provided there’s not much getting in the way of the machines. City landscapes, however, are an entirely different matter.
The challenges in ensuring a safe flight for drones in overcrowded urban areas are the many obstacles present, wind patterns, reduced lines of sight, and fewer safe landing zones. During this week’s demonstration, NASA will try and show how it believes it can overcome some of these hurdles.
NASA is testing drones in the cities of Reno in Nevada and Corpus Christi in Texas. The main goal of the program is to come up with guidelines for operating drones in an urban environment.
Presently there are no generally agreed-upon rules and regulations governing the activities of legal drone operators. There are also no integrated management systems for this type of flyers.
“This phase represents the most complicated demonstration of advanced UAS operating in a demanding urban environment that will have been tested to date,” Ronald Johnson, NASA’s UTM project manager back in February when the final phase of the program was announced.
“We are pleased at the plans by our partners in Nevada and Texas to conduct flight tests in a true urban environment with the support of the City of Reno and the City of Corpus Christi.”
Flying drones is a pretty straightforward activity, provided there’s not much getting in the way of the machines. City landscapes, however, are an entirely different matter.
The challenges in ensuring a safe flight for drones in overcrowded urban areas are the many obstacles present, wind patterns, reduced lines of sight, and fewer safe landing zones. During this week’s demonstration, NASA will try and show how it believes it can overcome some of these hurdles.
NASA is testing drones in the cities of Reno in Nevada and Corpus Christi in Texas. The main goal of the program is to come up with guidelines for operating drones in an urban environment.
Presently there are no generally agreed-upon rules and regulations governing the activities of legal drone operators. There are also no integrated management systems for this type of flyers.
“This phase represents the most complicated demonstration of advanced UAS operating in a demanding urban environment that will have been tested to date,” Ronald Johnson, NASA’s UTM project manager back in February when the final phase of the program was announced.
“We are pleased at the plans by our partners in Nevada and Texas to conduct flight tests in a true urban environment with the support of the City of Reno and the City of Corpus Christi.”
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