Uber hires 30-year NASA veteran to lead Elevate, its flying car initiative

[Shawn Knight]

Uber’s self-driving vehicle initiative is well under way but its long-term plan isn’t limited to traversing traditional highways and byways as its most recent hire highlights.

The transportation company recently hired Mark Moore, a 30-year NASA veteran, as its director of engineering for aviation where he will work on its flying car initiative, Uber Elevate. It’s a risky move for the lauded engineer, Bloomberg writes, as he is leaving NASA just one year before he is eligible for retirement and free healthcare for life. Then again, Uber probably made the move worthwhile but I digress.

Nevertheless, Moore is fully aware of the obstacles that stand in the way of making Uber’s vision of flying cars a reality. In addition to technical hurdles like noise pollution, vehicle efficiency and battery life, Moore tells the publication that flying car companies will need to negotiate with suppliers in able to get prices down. Furthermore, they’ll have to get on the good side of regulators with regard to relaxing existing air-traffic restrictions.

Uber’s vision for flying cars involves transporting people from their homes to nearby “veriports” using traditional vehicles. They’ll then hop aboard a flying vessel which will whisk passengers to the veriport nearest to their destination.

The flying vehicles won’t need a range of more than 100 miles or so and can likely be at least partially recharged at veriports when loading and unloading passengers, Moore thinks.

In an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg, Nikhil Goel, Uber’s head of product for advanced programs, said Uber continues to see its role as an accelerant-catalyst to the entire flying car ecosystem, adding that they are excited to have Moore join them as they continue to explore potential use cases like those outlined in a recent Uber whitepaper.

Said whitepaper, titled, Fast-Forwarding to a Future of On-Demand Urban Air Transportation, was published in October and is available online for anyone that wants to check it out.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/68047-uber-hires-30-year-nasa-veteran-lead-elevate.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

If Moore and his cronies at Uber don't succeed, that'll convince his colleagues from NASA to join the NTSB instead.

 

[Badonk4]

You want flying cars when the us can't even build a decent public transport system - even just with busses. Lame.

 

[koblongata]

Could make a great ambulance

 

[Uncle Al]

You know, ever since Popular Mechanic's published their first edition for the flying car, there have been dozen's of companies that engineered this device. Several have built mock-ups and a handful have actually produced a working version. Most were good but none have exceeded.

The issue is not mechanical; that has been solved. The issue is practicality. While the cost for a drivers license is cheap, the cost for training & enough experience to qualify for a private pilots license is not and nothing could be more frightening than the thought of a couple of teenagers behind the controls of such a vehicle! I've been flying for just about 40 years now and will soon be giving up my license because I recognize my skills are not as sharp as they once were and could myself as well as many on the ground in danger.

Should there come a time (which I think will be a lot sooner than we think) when the autonomous vehicle becomes a reality, I think this will be a possibility, but the reliability would have to be unquestionable and not require or rely upon a human being for any reason or we go back to the initial reason people will not go to such a great expense.

There is nothing that I have experienced that is more fun, more powerful, and more memorable than piloting your own aircraft. I've been lucky to fly a few different planes including an old P-38 that was a real kick .... but any and all require a good deal of concentration and focus. It's not something you can occasionally concentrate on and putting such a reality into the hands of those that don't understand that is a sure fire recipe for catastrophe as well as avoidable loss of life.

Stepping off of soap box now .......

 

[Makson]

Think of the 'fun' when they crash mid-air, drop on houses, shops, schools and highways. A large majority of people cannot correctly control an automatic-geared vehicle on the road with white lines to guide them ..... up in the air, without a road is an abominably crazy way to go!