NASA UAM Grand Challenge
Going in I don’t know that I could be called sold on the Jetsonian flying car thing concept. Not that I don’t want two, I just see a few “reality” hurdles to overcome. NASA Airworthiness, search for: NASA AFG-7900.3-001
Out of the gate, we have a more serious crowd here. Most of the attendees understand that the concepts and components in and around this Grand Challenge represent the future of aviation. I haven’t spoken to anyone (even the guy from Amazon) who thinks this is going to be easy. However, Gur mentioned a concept I can agree with (paraphrasing) we should all be thinking about making the airspace a safer place.
And he gave me this helpful handout.
I was able to attend the press conference with the NASA Associate Administrator, for ARMD Jaiwon Shin. They have published an aggressive timeline, of course, the scope and progress are funding dependent. I can feel a change in the wind at NASA and the effects of a new Administrator who is passionate about aviation. There is audio, but we have to process it, and so it will be published it at a later date.
The takeaway – I am encouraged by the pragmatic approach being espoused here in Seattle. There were some concerns about IP, but repeatedly the NASA folks say that they will safeguard against sharing proprietary data.
