The . air transportation system is vital to the economic well-being and security of the United States. To support continued . leadership in aviation, Congress and NASA requested that the National Research Council undertake a decadal survey of civil aeronautics research and technology (R&T) priorities that would help NASA fulfill its responsibility to preserve . leadership in aeronautics technology. In 2006, the National Research Council published the Decadal Survey of Civil That report presented a set of six strategic objectives for the next decade of aeronautics R&T, and it described 51 high-priority R&T challenges—characterized by five common themes—for both NASA and non-NASA researchers.
