SimLabs Hosts NASA Associate Administrator During ARC Visit

Mountain View, CA – September 21, 2022 – Metis Flight Research Associates (MFRA), the prime contractor on the SimLabs contract at Ames Research Center (ARC), assisted our NASA customer in hosting the agency’s Associate Administrator Bob Cabana when he toured SimLabs facilities during his visit to Ames on September 21. SimLabs is a high-visibility program developing custom aeronautics and space flight simulations used to research future advanced flight technologies. During his visit, Associate Administrator Cabana toured two SimLabs facilities, Future Flight Central (FCC) and the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS). Associate Administrator Cabana’s tour of the VMS included piloting the facility’s lunar lander simulation, which is one of several simulation capabilities under consideration to train the Artemis mission astronauts.

“The MFRA team was honored to host Associate Administrator Cabana and demonstrate firsthand the critical work being undertaken at SimLabs,” said Neil Otto, Program Manager for SimLabs. “It’s always rewarding for the team to share their accomplishments on impactful projects with the highest levels of NASA leadership.”

Given the nature of the work performed at ARC simulation facilities, MFRA often hosts VIPs at SimLabs. Previous visitors to SimLabs include NASA Administrators, foreign dignitaries, and the Vice President of the United States. In addition to operating the VMS and FFC, MFRA produces simulations for ARC’s Crew-Vehicle Systems Research Facility, and contributes to NASA missions across the spectrum of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). Recent notable projects at SimLabs include the US Army’s Advanced Rotorcraft Configurations Test of Increased Capability (ARCTIC) research project in VMS and multiple simulations in FFC supporting the award-winning Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2).