Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington, DC May 20, 1998

(Phone: 202/358-1726)

Kathy Barnstorff
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
(Phone: 757/864-9886)

RELEASE 98-86

NASA SELECTS TEAMS FOR RESEARCH AGREEMENTS --

A "WEATHER CHANNEL" IN EVERY COCKPIT?

Airlines and smaller airplanes are one step closer to having

up-to-the-minute, graphical weather displays in their cockpits,
thanks in part to a new NASA aviation safety initiative.

NASA has selected research proposals from eight industry

teams to develop Aviation Weather Information (AWIN) systems for
commercial airliners and general aviation aircraft.

"Pilots tell us their number one priority is graphical

weather information. We want to make it as easy to get a weather
channel in the cockpit as it is in your living room. Technologies
already exist that could help make that happen," said Michael
Lewis, Director, NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP), based at the
Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.

AvSP is a partnership with the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), the aviation industry (manufacturers and
operators) and the Department of Defense (DOD). This partnership
supports the national goal announced by President Clinton last
year to reduce the fatal aircraft accident rate by 80 percent in
10 years and by 90 percent over two decades.

The weather information selections are one of NASA's new

investments in that ambitious challenge. NASA asked U.S.
companies to submit proposals for research, development,
prototyping and implementation of AWIN systems and components.
Industry teams submitted more than 40 proposals in three weather
information categories: a national and worldwide system, a general
aviation system and topical areas or specific components. NASA,
FAA and DOD researchers evaluated the proposals based on technical
merit, cost and feasibility.

NASA has set aside more than $8 million that will be matched
by industry to fund AWIN projects over the next eighteen months.
More money is expected to be designated later to accelerate
commercialization and make some systems available within five years.

For the first phase of the program, teams led by Honeywell

and Boeing/McDonnell Douglas Corp. will receive up to $2.4 million
apiece to develop a national and worldwide AWIN solution. Over
the same 18-month period, the NavRadio group will be awarded up to
$1.2 million and the ARNAV team, up to $400,000, for a general
aviation weather information system. Other teams led by Rockwell
International, Honeywell and NavRadio will split $1.6 million to
develop specific components for AWIN.
 NASA envisions a futuristic system that would allow aircraft
to be both a source and user of weather information. Airborne
sensors would provide data for weather systems on board the plane,
on the ground and in other aircraft. In the cockpit would be
easy-to-read, real-time displays that can show weather across the
country, not just a limited number of miles ahead. That way
pilots could more easily monitor possible trouble spots and make
better, more cost-efficient routing decisions.

That weather information would get to and from aircraft by

satellite and ground transceivers using broadcast datalink and two
way communications systems. Many industry teams also propose to
incorporate decision aids into their AWIN designs. Those could
include, among other tools, alarm systems or displays of suggested
routes to help pilots better avoid potentially hazardous weather
situations.

The aviation safety initiative was created in the summer of

1997 by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin in response to a
report from the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and
Security, chaired by Vice President Al Gore. NASA has designated
about $500 million over five years for aviation safety, with more
funding expected to follow.

Researchers at four NASA field installations are working with

the FAA and industry to develop affordable, implementable
technologies to make flying safer: Langley; Ames Research Center
in Moffett Field, CA; Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards,
CA; and Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, OH.

Because of advances in the last 40 years commercial airliners

are already the safest of all major modes of transportation. But
with an accident rate that has remained relatively constant in the
last decade and air traffic expected to triple over the next 20
years, the U.S. government wants to prevent a projected rise in
the number of aircraft accidents.

For more information on the NASA Aviation Safety Program

please check the Internet at:
www.hq.nasa.gov/office/aero/oastthp/programs/avsaf/avsafpro.htm

For a list of AWIN industry teams, please see:

http://oea.larc.nasa.gov/news_rels/1998/May98/98_23.html

- end -