 Within the NASA Ames Research Center, an aircraft is taxing to a runway. Inside this building, a pilot is being given takeoff clearance. NASA 0712 cleared for takeoff. Inside this building, researchers are doing experiments in human factors, the relationship between humans and machines, and how they interact. 2, 6, descending to 5,000. Through these doors, the sensation of flight begins. Or inside the cockpit of a Boeing 727, the visual scene, the controls, the pilot, the cockpit itself, and the air traffic control system are all part of a unique research facility at NASA Ames Research Center, the manned vehicle systems research facility, MBSRF. This Boeing 727 is one of two flight simulators doing human factors research within the MBSRF. Designed primarily for the study of human factors, human-to-human, human-to-machine, and human-to-system interactions, the MBSRF provides an illusion of the real world, and makes possible the accurate observation of flight crew behavior during normal and abnormal situations. Decision making, workload management, communications, both in cockpit and air-to-ground, problem solving. All instruments, controls, and switches operate as they would in an actual aircraft, responding to aircraft data and pilot input. The simulator accurately models changes to the aircraft, both aerodynamic and environmental. Motion is provided by a sixth degree of freedom, computer-controlled hydraulic system. All of these elements combine to provide a flexible research environment, capable of supporting a wide range of experiments. The advanced concepts flight simulator is the facility's second flight simulator and represents a step into the future based on the expected technology of the mid-1990s. The instrument panel contains seven electronic displays, five with touch-sensitive screens. These displays have multiple functions to control aircraft systems and provide the majority of information presented to the pilot. A voice command system allows the spoken word to control aircraft system operations. The advanced concepts flight simulator system has been designed to be flexible, allowing for rapid changes to the pilot's cockpit environment while maintaining the simulator's full mission capabilities. Both simulators are equipped with computer-generated out-the-cockpit window visual displays, which depict dusk-to-night scenes of many different airports and surroundings. Both the simulators use a four-window visual system which shows the pilot forward and side views of the airport. A unique feature of the visual system is its ability to present a continuous visual scene while flying from airport to airport. An air traffic control simulator makes a very significant contribution to the realism of the experiments conducted at the facility. The flight crews not only communicate, either verbally or through data transmission with the ATC controllers, but also hear the normal chatter associated with controllers talking to pseudo-aircraft pilots controlling other simulated aircraft flying within their immediate vicinity. Action taken by the pseudo-aircraft pilots and the test subjects in the flight simulators are seen on the simulated radar displays operated by the air traffic controllers in the ATC simulator. Three independent controller stations are provided. The air traffic sectors assigned to the controller stations are easily changed to follow the progress of a flight from takeoff to landing. It is the function of the facility to support research objectives. The experimenter operating station has been designed to be flexible. It is capable of being modified to meet individual goals. There are two experimenter laboratory stations, one for each flight simulator. Each station contains the necessary equipment to communicate with the simulator operators, control the flight simulator, conduct the experiment, and collect data. Traffic arriving and departing runway 30 in form approach, you have information Bravo. The monitoring equipment for data collection and analysis provides time-coded recordings of hundreds of flight parameters. We have a real well fire and we'd like to return back to San Francisco. Audio and video recording systems capture the communications, behavior, and performance of each flight crew, as well as the communications of the air traffic controllers and pseudo-piloted aircraft. The data collected is then analyzed in detail by the researcher to explain how pilots perform under actual situations that have been simulated. The MVSRF is an extremely valuable research tool for those conducting studies requiring the simulation or illusion of flight operations. The research being conducted here is intended to achieve two vital objectives, improved operational efficiency of the airspace system, and of greater importance, improved aviation safety through the understanding and reduction of human error. The NASA Ames Research Center's manned vehicle systems research facility is contributing to the nation's present and future needs in each of these two important areas.