NASA Eyes Popular PC Hardware Performance Tool for Its Flight Simulators

NASA Langley has initiated the U.S. government software approval process to install CapFrameX, a benchmarking tool popular among PC gaming enthusiasts, on its cockpit simulators used to train test pilots. The space agency reached out to CapFrameX, not the other way around, according to an X post from the company.

NASA builds custom flight simulators from scratch for experimental aircraft like the X-59, a supersonic jet designed to produce a quiet thump rather than the traditional sonic boom. The agency's simulator teams replicate every switch, dial and knob to match the actual cockpit layout, helping pilots build muscle memory before flying the real thing.

What if we don't want to hear thumps?

[BrendaEM]

NASA is wasting tax money, trying to make a resource wasteful means of travel work, for a select wealthy few, to likely benefit one plane manufacturer.

Re:

[ravenshrike]

In order to quickly and accurately figure out what process calls and are causing frametime spikes and when, which are an important metrics when designing a simulator for a set of people with the some of the best vision and reaction times in the world, this sort of software is needed. And it's cheaper to buy a good one than try to make a good one.

Re:

[BrendaEM]

Only wealthy jetsetters want supersonic jets. The ones we presently have, crash fast enough.

Re:

[newbie_fantod]

NASA doesn't test commercial jets.

Naughty

[elvstone]

They want to know if they can run Crysis on it during breaks.