NASA Takes Off First Air Taxi Flight Trials That Could One Day Be Commercial
Image via NASA
For the first time ever, NASA has begun testing all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft as part of its Advanced Air Mobility (AMM) National Campaign.
Over the course of 12 days, NASA and Joby Aviation—which created the aircraft—will be testing the air taxis at the company’s Electric Flight Base near Big Sur, California.
In the future, Joby hopes the aircraft could serve as a commercial passenger service, ferrying passengers to and from their destinations via air.
With this test, NASA plans to collect vehicle performance and acoustic data to use in its future airspace concepts. Plus, it’ll help identify the current gaps in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) regulations, allowing it to come up with new laws should AMM aircraft become a reality.
It’ll also be monitoring how the eVTOL aircraft moves, sounds, and communicates with the controllers, including deploying over 50 microphones to measure the the acoustic profile of the aircraft in different phases of its flight.
“NASA’s AAM National Campaign is critical to driving scientific understanding and public acceptance of eVTOL aircraft,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder of Joby Aviation.
The grand idea is for AAM aircraft to eventually be fully integrated into the country’s airspace, providing another option for customers to travel, as well as send deliveries, or even build high-tech medical transport vehicles.
Perhaps, in the near future, you’ll be arriving to work not with a regular ride-hailing service, but on an air taxi.
Image via Joby Aviation
[via NASA, images via various sources]
Also check out these recent news
