Uber intends to take its ride-sharing service up, up and away. The company has just hired NASA engineer Mark Moore to lead their flying-car initiative #automagic
Moore has been appointed as director of engineering for aviation at Uber Elevate after his work in the field of VTOL crafts and experience at NASA. At Uber, Moore will work with manufacturers and stakeholders to overcome the technical difficulties of bringing air taxis to life. Uber is envisioning flying cars that could be taken from a person’s home to nearby “vertiports” placed in key locations around the neighborhood. It would be an alternative means of getting to work, hospitals or school.
Uber believes air taxis need a range of 50-100 miles with the possibility of recharging when boarding or leaving the vehicle.
Until that happens, though, Moore needs to solve matters like noise pollution and short battery life. Besides, in order for such companies to exist, the government would need to certify the aircrafts and be less strict about air traffic regulations.
As significant as these obstacles are, Moore is confident that the first flying cars will be controlled by human pilots in the next one to three years.
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