Simulating Safer Skyways

From new navigation instruments to updated air traffic control proce­dures, none of the developments intended to make safer skyways that was produced by NASA could be deployed into the real world until it had been thoroughly tested in simulated environments and certified as ready for use by the FAA. Among the many facilities and aircraft available to NASA to conduct such exercises, the Langley-based Boeing 737 and Ames-based complement of air traffic control simulators stand out as major contrib­utors to the effort of improving the National Airspace System.