“Not only is NASA developing its own flying cars, but it’s also working on a collision-deterring navigation system that could make skyways safer than highways.
‘You can say our goal is to make the second car in every driveway a personal air vehicle,’ says Andrew Hahn, an analyst at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. Hahn’s engineers are already committed to a 15-year time line for three successive generations of flying cars. The first will resemble a compact Cessna with folding wings that converts to road use; it should be available as a graduation gift when this year’s freshman class leaves high school. The second, with a rollout planned for 2015, is a two-person pod with small wings and a rear-mounted propeller. The third will rise straight up like a mini-Harrier jet and should be on the market by the time your newborn has a learner’s permit. The first of the three vehicles shouldn’t cost more than a Mercedes.”
More here from the New York Times Magazine.