13 Oct 2016------------------M16-120

Media are invited to watch the first test of NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) research platform from noon to 2:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Reno-Stead Airport in Reno, Nevada.
During this test, five drones will fly beyond the line-of-sight of their operators in order to test the planning, tracking and alerting capabilities of NASA’s UTM platform -- a critical step in the development of the technology and procedures for the safe management of drone air traffic. From this test, NASA, in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration, will collect data critical to refining its UTM research.

To attend this event, media must contact Sharon Lozano at sharon.k.lozano@nasa.gov by 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17, and arrive by 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Nevada Unmanned, Autonomous & NextGen Collaborative Environment (NUANCE) Lab. The NUANCE Lab is located at 4895 Texas Ave.
Media viewing the test from NUANCE will be able to watch the drone flight paths on large video displays, in a 3-D virtual environment. NASA engineers will be on hand to describe what is happening during the test. Information booths and test drones will be set up to provide more information, and experts will be available for interviews.

Image: Drone Co-habitation Services operates a Phantom 3 commercial multi-rotor unmanned aircraft, one of 11 vehicles in the UTM TCL2 demonstration that will fly beyond line of sight of the pilot in command in Nevada test.