Only hours remain!

Make a monthly gift to sustain local news on the last day of our June member drive.
2,527 sustainers of 2,500 goal
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
 — 
See All Episodes
Subscribe

Hey, LA listener!

Download our app for the optimal streaming experience

Apple Store logo Google play logo
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
  • Listen Now Playing Listen
Take Two

NASA helps write the rules for private drone use

By Take Two Staff
Published Oct 9, 2013
The Ikhana vehicle parked at the Dryden Flight Research Center in Palmdale.
The Ikhana vehicle parked at the Dryden Flight Research Center in Palmdale.
(
KPCC/Sanden Totten
)
The NASA Ikhana Drone. The cameras on the lower part of the machine provide pilots with a 2-D view of the world.
The NASA Ikhana Drone. The cameras on the lower part of the machine provide pilots with a 2-D view of the world.
(
KPCC/Sanden Totten
)
Pilot Mark Pesanta uses this simulation to practice flying drones.
Pilot Mark Pesanta uses this simulation to practice flying drones.
(
KPCC/Sanden Totten
)
Project Manager Laurie Grindle is helping the FAA research and test systems for drones in the public airspace.
Project Manager Laurie Grindle is helping the FAA research and test systems for drones in the public airspace.
(
KPCC/Sanden Totten
)

Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.

Get LA News Updates Daily

We brief you on what you need to know about L.A. today.

Until now, unmanned aerial vehicles — better known as drones — have been used mostly by the military.

But in a little more than a year, the Federal Aviation Administration is planning to allow private citizens and companies to send drones into the skies above the U.S. The FAA has turned to NASA to develop guidelines for flying this decidedly earth-focused craft.  

KPCC's science reporter Sanden Totten recently visited a NASA testing facility in Antelope Valley to check the process.