To ensure the United States will maintain its leadership in the sky and sustain aviation as a key economic driver for the nation, NASA's aeronautical innovators have announced plans that will direct future research in new technology and ideas in flight.
NASA’s new strategic vision will better align the work of the agency's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate to address looming challenges in global air transportation.
The new strategic vision greatly expands the relevancy of NASA's research and is based on three themes: understanding emerging global trends, using those trends to drive research directions, and then organizing NASA's aeronautical research work in response to those drivers.
In crafting the new vision, NASA planners began by trying to understand what trends are taking place around the world that might relate to aviation, concentrating on economics, technology and the environment.
Key drivers that are expected to change the face of aviation during the next 20 to 40 years include significant growth in planet-wide demand for air mobility, mounting concerns related to climate and energy, and the convergence of technologies ranging from new materials to embedded sensors to ubiquitous networking.
For example, among the trends recognized is that the Asia-Pacific region is seeing rapid economic growth marked by increased urbanization and a growing middle class, changes that will create millions of potential new customers of aviation services.
Other trends include the quickening pace at which revolutionary technology is invented and then widely adopted, as well as the ongoing environmental concerns related to the climate and availability of energy sources.
Aircraft 15 or 20 years from now will have much less impact on the environment thanks to new shapes, materials and technologies that reduce fuel use, noise, and emissions.