First testing of air taxi by NASA in US

Published by Pallavi pandey

 First testing of air taxi  by NASA in US

By sanjana tiwari 

NASA began flight testing on Monday with Joby Aviation’s all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft as part of the agency’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign. This testing runs through Friday, Sept.10, at Joby’s Electric Flight Base located near Big Sur, California. This is the first time that NASA  tested an eVTOL aircraft as part of the campaign. In the future, eVTOL aircraft could serve as air taxis for those in cities and surrounding areas around the country, adding another mode of transportation for moving people and goods.

NASA’s goal is to collect vehicle performance and accounting data for use in modeling and simulation of future airspace concepts. This test will help identify gaps in current Federal Aviation Administration regulations and policies to help incorporate AAM aircraft into the National Airspace System. This multi-event campaign to advance airspace mobility in the U.S. and this will take place at multiple locations over several years.

During the two-week test campaign, which is part of the space agency's Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Campaign, NASA and Joby Aviation will fly the aircraft at Joby's Electric Flight Base  near Big Sur, California. NASA engineers will focus especially on measuring the noise produced by the helicopter in order to gather data that would help lay a foundation for a future regulatory framework governing the use of such vehicles in cities. 

Davis Hackenberg said “The National Campaign Developmental Testing is an important strategic step in NASA’s goals to accelerate the AAM industry timeline,”  NASA AAM mission integration manager. “These testing scenarios will help inform gaps in current standards to benefit the industry’s progress of integrating AAM vehicles into the airspace.”

During this round of testing, NASA will collect data from Joby’s eVTOL aircraft, which is intended to serve as a commercial passenger service in the future. Analysing that data readies the AAM National Campaign to execute the first set of campaign tests, known as NC-1, slated for 2022, with more complex flight scenarios and other industry vehicles.