AAWSAP DIRD, Cockpits in the Era of Breakthrough Flight, November 2010

This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, dated 1 November 2010 and numbered DIA-08-1011-002, was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office. It is one of a series of advanced technology reports produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications program. It draws mainly on the book Frontiers of Propulsion Science and speculates about breakthroughs such as control of gravity and inertia and faster-than-light travel. It then proposes a provisional cockpit design with six-degree-of-freedom controls, virtual displays and no windows.

From the source: Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 11/1/10, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD examines how cockpit design might change if future aerospace vehicles were ever to achieve major propulsion breakthroughs such as control over gravity and inertia, “propellantless” flight, or faster-than-light travel. The report does not describe an existing or emerging vehicle class. Instead, it asks what such hypothetical capabilities would mean for piloting, displays, controls, and human factors, and it argues that the biggest design challenges would come from full six-degree-of-freedom motion, operation across multiple flight regimes from near-surface flight to orbit and deep space, and the possible separation between the craft’s actual motion and the crew’s internal physical sensations. It combines those assumptions with established human-machine-interface principles and with maturing inputs such as gesture, voice, and brain-machine control to outline a provisional cockpit centered on intuitive displays, stress-tolerant physical controls, and a virtual surround display.

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Outer Hull Inner Hull
Crew Safe Zone
Figure 6. Inertial Frame Bias Drive and Vehicle Zones. [Credit : M. Millis]
To be explicit, the physics and engineering to create such situations do not yet exist.
The related physics can be categorized as still being at steps one and two of the
scientific method: defining the problem and collecting data. 8 Among many other issues
eluding discovery and resolution, major issues include momentum conservation, the
role played by inertial frames, and methods to affect gravitational and inertial
properties of matter and space.
Secondary Consequences
Pertinent to cockpit design, the normal sensations of motion inside the cockpit will likely
not be the same. In contrast to the advantage of shielding the crew from harsh
maneuvers, this shielding removes sensations of motion (seat-of-pants feeling) that
pilots use to help judge the motion of their vehicle. This detriment is compounded by
the likelihood of inducing motion sickness, since the visual cues of the vehicle's real
motion will be different from that felt by the pilot. A difference between visual and
vestibular cues is a cause of motion sickness. The option of allowing a certain portion of
the vehicle's g-loading to be transferred to the cockpit can be considered as a
mitigation strategy. Accordingly, cockpit controls to affect such changes are required.
Also, it is likely that this double-hull notion would prevent direct visual contact between
the occupants and the environment outside the vehicle, or perhaps distort such visual
cues beyond easy interpretation. In other words, do not expect windows. Without the
famil iar visual and vestibular cues directly available to the pilot, it becomes vitally
important for the cockpit displays to provide re liable and instinctive cues for the pilot to
aptly judge the position, orientation, and motion of the vehicle.
Mixed Operational Regimes
A major desirable feature sought from propulsion breakthroughs is the ability to move
from the surface of the Earth directly into space. This implies that the veh icle's displays
and controls must readily encompass motion near the Earth's surface, ascent into space,
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