NASA wants to make autonomous planes a reality

Self-driving cars are quickly becoming a reality, but self-flying planes? It might seem far off, but NASA wants to make them happen. Today, three different aeronautics teams received the go ahead to explore projects related to unmanned autonomous aircraft. The first study explores "safe inclusion and certification of autonomous systems in aviation" -- or, to the rest of us, self-flying aircraft. This project will focus on the algorithms necessary for machines to make safe decisions on their own, without human input.