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(sound of whirling propellors)

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Narrator:  With issues about drones becoming

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front page news, NASA recently co-sponsored

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the 2015 Unmanned Aerial Systems

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Traffic Management Convention.

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Held at NASA's Ames Research Center, the event

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brought together representatives from the public,

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industry, academia, government and the

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international community to shape the future of

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low-altitude air traffic management.

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Jaiwon Shin, NASA: Everybody who has interest in

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this small UAS operation in low altitude, we

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wanted to bring everybody together.

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Make this highly complex challenge known

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to everybody and then we can take...

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develop an action plan together.

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Keynote speakers and panel discussions addressed

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possible solutions for privacy and air traffic

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control, and the impact of low-altitude drone

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flights on the emerging business sector.

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Gur Kimchi, Amazon: What if things will move themselves?

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Efficiently, economically, quickly, safely, right?

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Imagine how they'll change the world, right?

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And that's really what we're excited about.

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It's that hugely empowering, enabling platform

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that, I think, is as powerful as the internet.

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It's just for physical goods and physical packets,

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if you will, similar to what the internet

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did for digital packets.

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A dedicated exhibit space was set up for companies

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and NASA to show off their vehicles and a wide

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range of software applications being developed.

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One of the key exhibits was animation that showed

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a software-based low altitude air traffic control

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system currently being developed by NASA

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in conjunction with the FAA.

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It showed how a web-based program could be used in

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the future to plan and obtain approval

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for drone flights.

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Outside, an actual flight demonstration provided a

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real-world example of how the flight planning

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software currently works.

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The audience watched multiple views of the

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vehicles in flight, computer displays of the

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vehicle's independent ground control systems and

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the new planning software coordinating

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the flights.

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For the attendees, the UTM Convention was an

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important glimpse into a not-so-distant future

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that will touch the daily lives of millions.

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Jaiwon Shin, NASA: We always come to a certain

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point in time that we can almost feel it

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and touch it.

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That there is a breakthrough waiting right

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around the corner.

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And I believe that we are looking at it

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and we can almost sense it.

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So, this is the event that hopefully,

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20 or 30 years later, when we have

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tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands

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of small UAS flying in the sky safely,

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that everybody will look back and

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"30 years ago, at Ames, NASA folks started this."