| —— Recently many private companies have gotten involved in developing their own spacecraft and aircraft. For example, the recent success of SpaceShipOne. Can you comment on those developments?
I think private developments like what was done with SpaceShipOne are really a very positive thing for the country and the entire international community. The SpaceShipOne activity was done not too far from here in Mojave by a private company called Scaled Composites. I think they have a very innovative concept on taking an aircraft up into suborbital flight and allowing return and landing like a normal aircraft. It was one of the most innovative flight experiments done by any private company up to this point. We at NASA were not directly involved with that activity, but we certainly are looking forward to what they're going to do in the future and wish them the best of luck.
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The remotely piloted Altair unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) took to the air on its first checkout flight on June 9, 2003, at El Mirage, California. |
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—— What are your expectations of aircraft development in the future?
I think there are a lot of possibilities for advanced aeronautical development in the future. One particular area that I think is going to have a great impact on the world's economy is the development of unpiloted vehicles. We have been involved with a lot of advanced development for these unpiloted vehicles in the past, and I think that class of vehicle is probably one of the key technologies for the future. There are many, many applications both commercially and in support of government agencies for these unpiloted vehicles, which can fly very long durations without coming down for refueling. You do not have the limitations of the time that a pilot can fly. So my personal belief is that one of the key technologies for the future is in the area of these unpiloted aerial vehicles.
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