Eastern Michigan Aviation Discussion

         With the recent successful launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy Rocket, its owner, Elon Musk, has called for a new space race. This could prove to be a very exciting, important time for space exploration. The goal Mr. Musk is trying to achieve is to push extremely wealthy people to develop their own aerospace companies centered around commercial space transportation, and getting the human race to a point where space travel is a non-special event. It seems as though Elon Musk's tactic is also working. According to an article published on Business Insider, "Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and his rocket company, Blue Origin, recently opened a gigantic facility at Kennedy Space Center to build the New Glenn reusable rocket system". I feel as though it is incredibly important for these billionaires to begin a new space race because these people have all the time and money in the world to invest into something extremely expensive that no one else could be able ...

1.) As of now, the current ATC system operates off of RADAR. What this means is that only air traffic controllers can see the position of other aircraft. RADAR sends out a signal, that signal is picked up by other aircraft, and sent back to the ATC facility. This is then displayed on a screen in the ATC facility and this is how aircraft are directed in the national airspace system. With the proposed NextGen system, both ATC and pilots will now be able to see the position of other aircraft. the new system operates off of ADS-B equipment, which is satellite based. Signals are sent out from the ATC facility, refracted off of satellites, and then sent to the aircraft's transponder. These same signals are also sent between other aircraft, so that aircraft are now able to see the altitude, type, and directional trend of other aircraft. 2.) GA has traditionally been against the privatization of ATC is because a few large companies, such as major airlines, could take control of the airsp...