A Fast-Track Task Force Moves NextGen Forward
May 17, 2010
Just as the safe flight of an aircraft requires the combined effort of the flight crew and air traffic controllers, the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) plan to modernize the National Airspace System requires the combined efforts of the government, airspace users, and the aviation industry. Now, thanks to recommendations from a highly effective volunteer task force, the Federal Aviation Administration is continuing to move ahead with NextGen's development. The long-term benefits of the task force's work will include improved safety in the air and at airports, better use of existing capacity, greater design flexibility, and reduced environmental impacts.
Debby Kirkman's Contributions to NextGen
February 4, 2010
When Debby Kirkman first came to MITRE in 1984, she was looking for a challenging work environment in a family-friendly company. More than two decades later she's still here and feeling satisfied with her role supporting the Federal Aviation Administration's efforts to implement the Next Generation Air Transportation System, a large-scale multi-year program also called NextGen.
MITRE's Collaborative Experimentation Environment: Putting Cooperation to the Test
January 29, 2010
With more than 7,400 computer users spread across dozens of offices around the world, and two million e-mail messages processed each day, MITRE's information technology infrastructure is complex and continually evolving. Also evolving are the best practices and state-of-the art technologies that keep our network safe from malicious code, viruses, and hackers. To investigate and enhance cyber defenses for our company and for our sponsors, MITRE has launched a corporate initiative, the Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC). In addition to providing support for MITRE's operational environment, the CSOC is exploring innovative solutions to counter increasingly sophisticated forms of cyber attack, also known as the Advanced Cyber Threat (ACT).
Equivalent Visual Operations: More Than Meets the Eye
January 27, 2010
SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration is sponsoring research that will help reduce airline congestion and delays, especially during bad weather. Equivalent Visual Operations (EVO) is a collection of new air traffic management technologies and procedures that will allow pilots and controllers to operate as efficiently in poor weather conditions as they can in favorable ones.
MITRE Engineers Honored for Achievements in Airborne Traffic Avoidance
December 7, 2009
MITRE Corporation engineers Chris Moody, Doyle Peed, Robert Strain, and Dr. Warren Wilson have received the 2009 Dr. John C. Ruth Digital Avionics Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the world's largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. The award, formerly known as the Digital Avionics Award, recognizes outstanding achievement in technical management and/or implementation of digital avionics in space or aeronautical systems to include system analysis, design, development or application.
Modeling a "Green" Effort
December 4, 2009
Over the past year Gene Lin has focused on developing models to find methods for reducing the environmental impact of air travel. Lin, a modeling and simulation engineer at MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) in McLean, Va., is the primary researcher and project leader of an exploratory research project called Green Airspace Design.
Green Air Space Design: Reducing Fuel Burn
October 26, 2009
Could making small adjustments at the beginning and end of aircrafts' flight paths add up to big benefits to the environment? That's what MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) is trying to find out through a new internally funded research effort called Green Airspace Design. The project studies how flight paths can—and cannot—be adjusted in terminal areas to minimize fuel consumption.
Putting Signal Processing to Work in the National Airspace
September 4, 2009
Rob Strain was studying computer and electrical engineering at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., when he first heard about MITRE in 1989. As a leader of the Young Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), he arranged for student AFCEA members to meet with MITRE's signal processing group to visit its labs and learn about its work. "It was inspirational," he says. "I was impressed by the technology research, people, and the work MITRE was doing for the public good."
A Successful Landing: Modeling Chicago's Airspace in Real Time
August 6, 2009
If you've ever passed through Chicago's O'Hare Airport, you probably know firsthand that it's one of the world's busiest. Airplanes awaiting their turn for takeoff line up on the runway like taxicabs during rush hour. Numerous industry projections estimate that O'Hare will only get busier in the future. The strain on the airport has created the need for more capacity. Fortunately, a major effort designed to ease congestion—the $6.6 billion, multiphase O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP)—is already underway. The OMP will increase the number of air traffic control towers and runways to meet the region's current and future aviation needs.
TCAS: A Second Set of Eyes for Pilots
June 9, 2009
The safety of commercial aircraft in the United States is something most travelers take for granted. It's been 23 years since the last aircraft collision over the U.S., thanks to a network of complementary systems that augment pilots' situational awareness of the airspace surrounding them.
Clear Skies for NextGen
June 4, 2009
Looking up at a sleek new aircraft crossing a blue sky may lead you to daydreaming about flying to Las Vegas to try your luck or hoping that the birthday present you overnighted to your Aunt June arrives in time. But when MITRE's Gregg Leone looks skyward, he anticipates a future where advances in aviation technology and air traffic management enable an unprecedented increase in air transportation options for the public, cargo shippers such as FedEx and UPS, and the military.
Fusing Aviation Data: A New Approach to Keeping Skies Safer
April 24, 2009
The ability to capture and analyze previously untapped aviation safety data is key to improving the already high levels of U.S. air travel safety. Recognizing this, the Federal Aviation Administration asked MITRE to create a new repository of airline safety data that can be mined to spot potential safety issues before incidents occur.
Reducing Flight Delays by Managing Air Traffic Uncertainties
April 13, 2009
Even with the aid of the latest in forecasting tools, weather can be hard to predict. This causes no end of headaches for air traffic managers, who must weigh this uncertainty as they make decisions—often many hours ahead of takeoff—about flight routing and schedules. Just a single sudden storm in a major transportation hub such as Chicago or New York can trigger gridlock across the entire country, potentially throwing thousands of flights off schedule.
Wired Magazine Features MITRE's CAASD
March 11, 2009
The MITRE Corporation was recently featured in Wired magazine regarding the company’s research and development in aviation. Read the “Key to Eliminating U.S. Flight Delays? Redesign the Sky Over New York City,” which appeared February 23, 2009.
Virtual Contrails: Modeling Air Traffic Control Over the Internet
February 26, 2009
"Cal Air 101 is cleared to San Francisco via the FMG6 departure, FMG transition, then as filed. Climb and maintain 12,000, expect FL310 in 10 minutes, departure frequency 118.60, squawk 5510." "Cal Air 101 cleared to San Fran via FMG6 departure, FMG transition, then as filed, 12k then FL310 in 10, departure 118.60, squawking 5510." "Cal Air 101, readback is correct. Contact ground on 121.40 for taxi." "We'll call ground. Good day, Cal Air 101." You might expect to overhear a conversation like this one between a pilot and an air traffic controller if you were to tap into a transmission from the local airport. But this exchange actually took place between two participants in a computer game played over the Internet. Both players are members of VATSIM (Virtual Air Traffic Simulation), a community of aviation enthusiasts who use the Internet to simulate real-life air travel. Though they sound like aviation professionals, neither player may have ever flown a plane or peered down from an air traffic control tower. Rather, they are hobbyists acting out their dreams of flying through the use of specially modified flight simulation programs and VATSIM's online servers.
RCAT Reduces Risk
December 18, 2008
The U.S. Air Force’s Electronic Systems Center lab—called the Reconfiguration Cockpit Avionics Testbed (RCAT) and located at MITRE in Bedford—connects with Raytheon’s Net Centric Operations/Integration Lab to test cross-agency communications. RCAT is most important for the success of NextGen air traffic management concepts. Read more in Avionics Magazine’s recent feature, “RCAT: Testbed for NextGen.” (After you reach the Avionics website, close the advertising box, and then click on RCAT Testbed.)
Patent Awarded for Tactical Check Algorithm
December 1, 2008
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently awarded CAASD information systems engineers Bill Arthur and Dan Kirk in F042 a patent for developing the “Tactical Aircraft Check Algorithm, System, and Method.” This invention was developed as a future performance enhancement to the User Request Evaluation Tool (URET).
DVD Features CAASD's Key Role in Transforming the Future of Air Travel
November 6, 2008
One of MITRE’s newest video productions, “Advancing NextGen: MITRE-FAA Partnership at Work,” demonstrates the new capabilities that CAASD is developing to transform the national airspace to meet the future demands of air travel. CAASD works hand-in-hand with the Federal Aviation Administration to create the Next Generation Air Transportation System known as NextGen. The vital components of NextGen include:
Sense and Avoid: Flying Small UAS in Civil Airspace
August 7, 2008
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are rapidly passing their initial "cool stuff for the military" phase. In fact, interest in UAS is growing worldwide, and many new civil applications are envisioned, such as homeland security, border protection, and crime scene surveillance, as well as commercial operations. In agriculture they could be used to check blight in crops and measure moisture levels in soil. UAS could add a whole new wrinkle to airborne photography, taking pictures in spaces otherwise inaccessible to manned aircraft.
MITRE Wins Collier Trophy
August 4, 2008
MITRE was recently included among a group of government, industry, and academic organizations honored with the prestigious Collier Trophy for their contribution to a next-generation air-traffic control system known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B).
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