Travelling by plane takes time since we aren’t at that point where we have instant teleporters. This means that if you’re planning on travelling far, load up your iPad, get a neck cushion, some comfortable clothes because you’ll be in for a long ride. However all of that could soon change thanks to the work of NASA.
While NASA might be more concerned with things like space, it seems that they are also interested on things back on Earth, and shortening flight times is apparently one of them. Recently the space agency has worked to develop an app that can be loaded onto a tablet, and what the app does is it helps pilots look for routes and flight paths that can potentially shorten the time the plane is spent in the air.
In addition to the shorter flight time, it also means that fuel can be saved along with lesser emissions. The best part is that it will not require any major changes made to planes or to the way flights operate, meaning that it should be good to go off the bat.
Talking about the app, Tom Kemp, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of operations in Seattle, Washington said, “Up until now there has been no way to deliver comprehensive wind and congestion data to pilots in near-real time. It is a ‘super app’ that will give our pilots better visibility to what’s happening now versus three hours earlier when the flight plan was prepared.”
[Image credit – NASA/David C. Bowman]