Program Information

Series: Destination Tomorrow
Program: Episode 6
Segment Number: 5 (Watch entire program)
Duration: 00:04:31
Year Produced: 2003
Description:

NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment explaining how NASA uses flight simulators to assist in engineering aircraft.

NASA's Destination Tomorrow™ is a series of 30-minute programs that focus on NASA research. Each exciting program gives the audience an inside look at NASA and demonstrates how research and technology relate to our everyday lives.

For more information visit: http://destination.larc.nasa.gov/

Transcript

ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE TOOLS
PILOTS AND ENGINEERS USE
WHEN LEARNING ABOUT AIRCRAFT
IS THE FLIGHT SIMULATOR.

NOW, SIMULATORS
HAVE BEEN AROUND
ALMOST AS LONG
AS AIRPLANES HAVE.

IN FACT,
IN EARLY MODELS,
PILOTS HAVE PRACTICED FLYING
BY SITTING IN WOODEN BARRELS
SUSPENDED OFF THE GROUND.

SIMULATORS HAVE COME A LONG WAY
SINCE THEN,
BUT THE BASIC IDEA OF MAKING
FLYING SAFER HASN'T CHANGED.

TODAY, THEY ARE
INCREDIBLY COMPLEX MACHINES
THAT ARE USED, NOT JUST TO HELP
PILOTS LEARN TO FLY,
BUT ARE USED TO RUN EXPERIMENTS
OR TESTS
WHICH CAN BE TOO EXPENSIVE
OR TOO DANGEROUS
TO ATTEMPT IN FLIGHT.

I SPOKE WITH MARSHALL SMITH
AT NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER
TO FIND OUT HOW THEY WORK.

SO, MARSHALL, WHAT ARE
THE DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN NASA FLIGHT SIMULATORS
AND OTHER SIMULATORS?

WELL, THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN NASA FLIGHT SIMULATORS
AND OTHER SIMULATORS
ARE MAINLY
IN THE TRAINING ENVIRONMENT
AND--VERSUS ENGINEERING
AND RESEARCH.

OTHER TYPES OF SIMULATORS
ARE USED FOR TRAINING,
AND SO THEY BENEFIT ONE PILOT
OR THE PILOTS THAT ARE OUT
THERE LEARNING TO FLY AIRPLANES,
BUT OUR SIMULATORS ARE USED FOR
DEVELOPING ENGINEERING CONCEPTS
OR THINGS THAT MAKE--
MAKE FLYING SAFER.

SO WHAT ARE
SOME REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS
THAT SIMULATORS HAVE SOLVED?

(Smith)
SOME OF THE PROBLEMS ARE
RELATED TO SAFETY.

FOR EXAMPLE,
WIND SHEAR DETECTION
AND AVOIDANCE
WAS A BIG PROBLEM.

WIND SHEAR IS--OCCURS WHEN YOU
HAVE A REAL STRONG DOWNDRAFT,
AND IT COULD OCCUR
FROM THUNDERSTORMS,
OR IT COULD OCCUR
NEAR YOUR MOUNTAINSIDES
OR EVEN IN CLEAR AIR.

BUT BASICALLY
WHAT HAPPENS IS,
IT CAUSES THE PLANE
TO LOSE LIFT AND CRASH.

AND 15 TO 20 YEARS AGO,
A LOT OF PLANES WERE CRASHING
BECAUSE OF WIND SHEAR PROBLEMS,
BUT ENGINEERING SIMULATORS
WERE USED, AT NASA PARTICULARLY,
TO DETECT WIND SHEARS
AND ALSO GIVE THEM GUIDANCE
AS TO HOW TO GET OUT
OF A WIND SHEAR CONDITION
AND ACTUALLY LAND
THE PLANE SAFELY.

WIND SHEAR IS RARELY
A PROBLEM ANYMORE.

SO THAT WAS, LIKE,
15 OR 20 YEARS AGO.

WHAT ARE SOME CURRENT THINGS
THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON TODAY?

OKAY, SOME OF THE PROBLEMS
WE'RE WORKING ON TODAY
INVOLVE SYNTHETIC VISION,
WHERE WE'RE TRYING
TO GIVE THE PILOT
AN OUT-THE-WINDOW PICTURE
OF WHAT THE WORLD LOOKS LIKE
IF HE CAN'T SEE.

IF HE'S FLYING
THROUGH CLOUDS,
OR IT'S REALLY LOW VISIBILITY,
HE CAN LOOK DOWN
AT THIS DISPLAY
AND SEE WHAT HE WOULD SEE
IF THERE WAS CLEAR AIR
OUTSIDE OF HIM.

WE'RE WORKING ON KEEPING PLANES
PROPERLY SPACED APART
IF THEY'RE DOING
PARALLEL APPROACHES
OR ON THE GROUND.

IF PILOTS--
IF PLANES ARE TAXIING AROUND,
AND AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
INADVERTENTLY TELLS SOMEBODY
TO GO IN FRONT OF A PLANE,
HE HAS ANOTHER METHOD
WHERE HE CAN DETERMINE
THAT SOMETHING BAD
IS HAPPENING.

SO HOW HAVE SIMULATORS CHANGED
OVER THE YEARS?

OVER THE PAST
15 TO 20 YEARS,
SIMULATORS
HAVE CHANGED DRAMATICALLY,
AND THAT'S LARGELY DUE
TO THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION
AND CHANGES IN GRAPHIC SYSTEMS
FROM THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY.

THESE SIMULATORS HAVE GOTTEN
MUCH MORE ACCURATE AND DETAILED,
THE SIMULATIONS THEMSELVES,
TO THE POINT THAT
WE CAN DO A SIMULATION
AND THEN GO OUT
AND FLY THE REAL AIRCRAFT
AND REALLY FIND
NO DIFFERENCES IN THE TWO.

SO ARE PILOTS THE ONLY ONES
USING FLIGHT SIMULATORS?

WELL, ABSOLUTELY NOT.

ACTUALLY, OUR SIMULATORS
ARE USED BY RESEARCHERS
WHO ARE ENGINEERS
AND TECHNICIANS
WHO ARE DEVELOPING
ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS
SO THAT WE CAN DETERMINE
WHETHER THEY'LL BE GOOD FOR
THE AVIATION INDUSTRY OR NOT.

AND THEN PILOTS
ARE BROUGHT IN,
ACTUALLY, AT THE END
OF THE PROGRAM
SO THAT THEY CAN BE USED
AS TEST SUBJECTS TO DETERMINE
WHETHER THE INFORMATION, THEN,
IS GOING TO BE GOOD ENOUGH
TO TAKE ONTO THE AIRPLANE
FOR FURTHER TESTS.

PILOTS ALSO HELP US DEVELOP
THE TEST AS WELL.

(Alonso)
SO, MARSHALL, CAN YOU SHOW ME
HOW THE SIMULATOR WORKS?

SURE.

WE'RE ACTUALLY
AT DALLAS/FORT WORTH RIGHT NOW,
AND WE'RE GOING TO TAKE OFF
FROM DALLAS/FORT WORTH,
AND YOU'RE GOING
TO DO IT FOR US.

SO YOU TAKE YOUR THROTTLES,
MOVE THEM ALL THE WAY FORWARD.

GIVE IT A TRY.

YOUR FLAPS ARE ALREADY SET,
AND YOU'RE READY TO GO.

START WITH THIS,
RIGHT?

THERE WE GO.

ALL RIGHT.

AND AS YOUR AIR SPEED
GETS UP TO ABOUT 150--
OKAY, YOU CAN PULL BACK.

GO AHEAD AND PULL BACK.

THERE YOU GO.

ALL RIGHT, NOW YOU
CAN PUSH FORWARD A LITTLE BIT.

AND...
YOU JUST TOOK OFF.

[laughing]

THIS IS AMAZING.

(Smith)
IF IT'S IN THE REAL AIRCRAFT,
IT'S IN THIS SIMULATOR.

THIS PARTICULAR SIMULATOR
IS A COPY OF THE--
OF OUR 757 AIRCRAFT
THAT WE HAVE AT NASA
THAT WE USE FOR RESEARCH.

IT'S A COPY
OF THE FORWARD NOSE SECTION.

SO WE ACTUALLY HAVE--
IF WE HAVE
A PARTICULAR RESEARCH
INSTRUMENT IN THE AIRCRAFT,
WE'LL PUT IT
IN THE SIMULATOR AS WELL.

YOU GUYS MUST HAVE FUN
WORKING UP HERE.

IT'S A BLAST.

LOOK AT ME SAYING,
"UP HERE."

WE'RE NOWHERE.

[both chuckling]
THIS IS COOL.

THANKS A LOT, MARSHALL.

THIS HAS BEEN SO MUCH FUN.

IT'S BEEN MY PLEASURE.

YOU COME BACK ANYTIME.

THANK YOU, I WILL.

I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION.

OKAY.

WHERE DO I
PUT THE QUARTERS?

OH, THAT GOES
RIGHT OVER HERE.

YEAH, GOT ANY?

Virginia Standards

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