Congested Airspace
The U.S. has some of the busiest airports and airspace in the world. At any given time more than 5,000 planes are traveling through its skies. To help air traffic controllers direct these flights, scientists from NASA Ames Research Center created a powerful computer program that can predict how planes will move around the country. Called FACET (Future Air Traffic Management Concepts Evaluation Tool), the program uses actual air traffic and weather data to model the climb, cruise and descent paths for commercial aircraft. The simulated routes can be displayed on a map and analyzed for improvements in flight plans, such as finding ways to move people and cargo faster and with less environmental impact. Watch the animation to see 24 hours of simulated air traffic over the continental United States.
Explore how NASA technology improves the flow of U.S. air traffic.
Gray dots represent individual flights. Colored lines outline the flight paths of different commercial carriers as indicated in the color key.
Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) is consistently ranked the second busiest airport in the U.S. and one of the busiest in the world.
The busiest airport in the U.S. is Hartsfield—Jackson Atlanta International (ATL).
San Francisco International (SFO) is ranked in the top 10 busiest airports in the U.S.
In 2011, more than 19 million passengers boarded planes at Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX).
Los Angeles International (LAX) is the third busiest airport in the U.S.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Animation courtesy of NASA/FACET
Aerial photos courtesy of USGS
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Writer
- Kayvon Sharghi (USRA)
Release date
This page was originally published on Thursday, December 20, 2012.
This page was last updated on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 12:16 AM EDT.