Poster boards, videos, big screens and small planes were on display Friday as NASA chief Charles Bolden flew into Hampton for a quick briefing on key airborne missions operating out of NASA Langley Research Center.

It was a chance for scientists, engineers and pilots to tout their successes and their relevance as they research "sense-and-avoid" drone technology, better alternative jet fuels and a powerful laser that can help compile a 3-D profile of wind.

"This is all awesome to me," Administrator Bolden said afterward in the center's hangar. "Because it speaks to the things that we're really trying to collaborate with the FAA, Department of Defense and aviation in general to try to (improve) flying safety."

Pushing flight safety is preaching to the choir. A compact man, Bolden is not only a former naval aviator and retired Marine Corps major general, but he has flown four times on the Space Shuttle twice as mission commander.

He listened attentively to each presentation and never missed an opportunity to shake the hand of a Langley pilot.

Drone sense

Sense-and-avoid technology, once cracked, is key to the $80 billion market in unmanned aerial systems, or UAS, explained Frank Jones, associate director of Langley's Research Services Directorate.

The technology uses sophisticated computer algorithms to enable unmanned drone aircraft to detect and maneuver around other aircraft and tall stationary objects, such as buildings and cell phone towers.

Bolden watched a video of earlier test flights illustrating how aircrafts deliberately set on collision paths successfully used sense-and-avoid technology to avoid catastrophe, with one plane veering off safely.

The technology is still evolving, Jones said, and tests continue to unearth room for improvement in areas such as air speed and communications.

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NASA chief gets airborne mission updates at Langley