Ames’s SimLabs

NASA’s Ames Research Center in California is home to some of the more sophisticated and powerful simulation laboratories, which Ames calls SimLabs. The simulators support a range of research, with an empha­sis on aerospace vehicles, aerospace systems and operations, human fac­tors, accident investigations, and studies aimed at improving aviation

safety. They all have played a role in making work new air traffic control concepts and associated technology. The SimLabs include:

• Future Flight Central, which is a national air traffic con­trol and Air Traffic Management simulation facility ded­icated to exploring solutions to the growing problem of traffic congestion and capacity, both in the air and on the ground. The simulator is a two-story facility with a 360-degree, full-scale, real-time simulation of an airport, in which new ideas and technology can be tested or per­sonnel can be trained.[275]

• Vertical Motion Simulator, which is a highly adaptable flight simulator that can be configured to represent any aerospace vehicle, whether real or imagined, and still pro­vide a high-fidelity experience for the pilot. According to a facility fact sheet, existing vehicles that have been sim­ulated include a blimp, helicopters, fighter jets, and the Space Shuttle orbiter. The simulator can be integrated with Future Flight Central or any of the air traffic con­trol simulators to provide real-time interaction.[276]

• Crew-Vehicle Systems Flight Facility,[277] which itself has three major simulators, including a state-of-the-art Boeing 747 motion-based cockpit,[278] an Advanced Concept Flight Simulator,[279] and an Air Traffic Control Simulator consisting of 10 PC-based computer workstations that can be used in a variety of modes.[280]