3 min read<\/p>\n
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/aam-healthcare-medium.jpg?w=1280\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nNASA\u2019s research into the field of Advanced Air Mobility looks to enable autonomous aircraft with complex capabilities such as carrying cargo or providing medical aid, as seen in this artist\u2019s concept. The Data and Reasoning Fabric project out of Ames Research Center tested delivery of programs and information to these kinds of vehicles.<\/div>\nCredit: NASA<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nOne of the biggest goals for companies in the field of artificial intelligence is developing \u201cagentic\u201d or autonomous systems. These metaphorical agents can perform tasks without a guiding human hand. This parallels the goals of the emerging urban air mobility industry, which hopes to bring autonomous flying vehicles to cities around the world. One company got a head start on doing both with some help from NASA.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Autonomy Association International Inc. (AAI) is a public benefit corporation based in Mountain View, California, near NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. In 2022, AAI signed a Space Act Agreement with Ames to support the agency\u2019s Data and Reasoning Fabric project, which aimed to support the transportation of people and cargo to areas previously unserved or underserved by aviation, and to provide reliable, accurate, and current data for aeronautic decision-making.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cInspiration to lean into data fabric to solve certain complexities came from our NASA partnership,\u201d said AAI cofounder and the project\u2019s industry principal investigator Greg Deeds.\u00a0\u201cWorking on this project was a great experience. Working with NASA engineers and leaders gave us experience that we\u2019ll carry forward in all of our products.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greg-deeds-during-arizona-flight-test.png?w=1536\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nGreg Deeds looks out the window of a helicopter flying over Arizona during a test of Autonomy Association International\u2019s data fabric technology in collaboration with NASA. Through multiple evaluations above Phoenix, the testing proved the capabilities of the company\u2019s Digital Infrastructure Platform. <\/div>\nCredit: Autonomy Association International Inc.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nSimilar to how clothing fabric is made of intertwined threads, a data fabric comprises intertwined data sources. While a data fabric built by a tech company may include data from a few different cloud service providers, NASA\u2019s\u00a0Data and Reasoning Fabric can also use information provided by local governments and other service providers. By viewing airspace as a large data fabric, an autonomous vehicle can take in data and requests from the cities and towns it flies over and prioritize responses between them.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Working with Ken Freeman, principal investigator of the project at Ames, AAI and NASA performed four testing adaptations of the data fabric technology in the air over Arizona. Using hardware and software developed by AAI, the flights tested advanced air mobility passenger flights and the use of a drone for rapid delivery of medical supplies from urban to rural areas and back, while sending new tasks to the aircraft in flight. A helicopter stood in for the drone and air taxi, flying over towns, universities, tribal lands, and the airspace around Phoenix Sky Harbor airport and obtaining data and programs given to it from different places.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re focusing on the digital infrastructure building blocks of smart cities and regions of the future,\u201d said Jennifer Deeds, chief\u00a0operating officer and cofounder of AAI.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In the years since the original NASA project, the company has cultivated relationships and customers abroad, including companies in agriculture, real estate development, and industrial food production using its system to aggregate and manage data. Released in 2024, the company\u2019s Digital Infrastructure Platform uses the same technology originally designed for the NASA flight test. A new,\u00a0\u201cagentic\u201d version followed not long after, able to retrieve necessary AI programs with minimal interaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As AI unlocks innovation across American industries, NASA is equipping its commercial partners with the keys, using proven technology to generate breakthrough solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Learn more:\u00a0https:\/\/spinoff.nasa.gov\/<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/aam-healthcare-medium.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>One of the biggest goals for companies in the field of artificial intelligence is developing \u201cagentic\u201d or autonomous systems. These metaphorical agents can perform tasks without a guiding human hand. This parallels the goals of the emerging urban air mobility industry, which hopes to bring autonomous flying vehicles to cities around the world. One company got a head start on doing both with some help from NASA.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Autonomy Association International Inc. (AAI) is a public benefit corporation based in Mountain View, California, near NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. In 2022, AAI signed a Space Act Agreement with Ames to support the agency\u2019s Data and Reasoning Fabric project, which aimed to support the transportation of people and cargo to areas previously unserved or underserved by aviation, and to provide reliable, accurate, and current data for aeronautic decision-making.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cInspiration to lean into data fabric to solve certain complexities came from our NASA partnership,\u201d said AAI cofounder and the project\u2019s industry principal investigator Greg Deeds.\u00a0\u201cWorking on this project was a great experience. Working with NASA engineers and leaders gave us experience that we\u2019ll carry forward in all of our products.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/figure>Similar to how clothing fabric is made of intertwined threads, a data fabric comprises intertwined data sources. While a data fabric built by a tech company may include data from a few different cloud service providers, NASA\u2019s\u00a0Data and Reasoning Fabric can also use information provided by local governments and other service providers. By viewing airspace as a large data fabric, an autonomous vehicle can take in data and requests from the cities and towns it flies over and prioritize responses between them.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Working with Ken Freeman, principal investigator of the project at Ames, AAI and NASA performed four testing adaptations of the data fabric technology in the air over Arizona. Using hardware and software developed by AAI, the flights tested advanced air mobility passenger flights and the use of a drone for rapid delivery of medical supplies from urban to rural areas and back, while sending new tasks to the aircraft in flight. A helicopter stood in for the drone and air taxi, flying over towns, universities, tribal lands, and the airspace around Phoenix Sky Harbor airport and obtaining data and programs given to it from different places.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re focusing on the digital infrastructure building blocks of smart cities and regions of the future,\u201d said Jennifer Deeds, chief\u00a0operating officer and cofounder of AAI.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In the years since the original NASA project, the company has cultivated relationships and customers abroad, including companies in agriculture, real estate development, and industrial food production using its system to aggregate and manage data. Released in 2024, the company\u2019s Digital Infrastructure Platform uses the same technology originally designed for the NASA flight test. A new,\u00a0\u201cagentic\u201d version followed not long after, able to retrieve necessary AI programs with minimal interaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As AI unlocks innovation across American industries, NASA is equipping its commercial partners with the keys, using proven technology to generate breakthrough solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Learn more:\u00a0https:\/\/spinoff.nasa.gov\/<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n