Uber’s Getting Serious About Making Flying Cars a Reality
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Mark Moore, a former advanced aircraft engineer at NASA’s Langley Research Center, recently left the space center to join Uber. The reason for a NASA engineer’s transition to the company that disrupted the taxi industry? To take on the role of director of engineering for aviation. He was intrigued by the rideshare company’s desire to act as a catalyst in the industry by working to solve problems that will need to be overcome in order for this vision to become a reality, such as noise pollution, battery life and efficiency.
The initiative, called Uber Elevate, was originally published in October 2016. It lays out the company’s vision to have a network of on-demand, electric ‘flying cars’ to take you where you need to go. The cars would resemble helicopters in take-off and landing, but would be smaller and quieter. Theoretically, they’ll help relieve traffic on roadways and break the cycle of long commutes to and from the office.
While there will be many obstacles to overcome before flying cars are a reality — including air-traffic restrictions, aircraft certifications, and sky-high prices — Moore predicts flying cars could take off within the next one to three years, though that sounds like a very ambitious timeline.
Will we soon be flying around our cities like the Jetsons did? Apparently, we may not have to wait too long to see.
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images.
H/T: Dallas News
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