A collage of artists' concepts highlighting novel approaches proposed by 2024 NIAC Phase II awardees for potential future missions. Credit: NASA, from left: Edward Balaban, Mary Knapp, Mahmouda Sultana, Brianna Clements, and Ethan Scherer.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Innovative Advanced Concepts program is pursuing six “sci-fi-esque” space technology projects, including a lunar railway and a fluid telescope.
Six visionary concept studies have been selected for additional funding and development through NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program. Each study has already completed its first NIAC phase, demonstrating that futuristic ideas, such as a lunar railroad system and a fluid-based telescope, could offer new perspectives and approaches as NASA explores the unknown worlds of space.
NIAC Phase II concept studies will be awarded up to $600,000 to continue work over the next two years, addressing remaining key technical and budgetary hurdles and paving the way for development. Upon completion of Phase II, these studies can progress to the final NIAC phase to receive additional funding and development considerations for future aerospace missions.
“These diverse, science fiction-like concepts represent an incredible class of Phase II research,” said John Nelson, NIAC program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Our NIAC Fellows continually surprise and inspire us, and this class will no doubt give NASA a lot to think about in terms of what's possible in the future.”
The six concepts selected for the 2024 NIAC Phase II awards are:
Fluid Telescope (FLUTE): Enabling the Next Generation of Large Space Observatories uses fluid molding of ionic liquids to build large optical observatories in space. These space observatories could help investigate NASA's top-priority astrophysics targets, including Earth-like exoplanets, first-generation stars, and young galaxies. FLUTE research is led by Edward Balaban at NASA Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley.
Pulsed Plasma Rocket: A revolutionary propulsion system that uses packets generated by nuclear fission to transport a shielded human to Mars at high speed. plasma This innovative system has the potential to drastically reduce travel times between Earth and any destination in the solar system. The research is being led by Brianna Clements of Howe Industries in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Great Observatory for Long Wavelengths (GO-LoW) could change the way NASA does astronomy. This mega-constellation of low-frequency radio telescopes will use thousands of autonomous small satellites that can measure magnetic fields emanating from exoplanets and dark ages in the universe. GO-LoW is led by Mary Knapp, Massachusetts Institute of Technology In Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Radioisotope Thermal Radiation Cell Power Plant is investigating a new space power source that could potentially operate more efficiently than NASA's traditional power plants. The technology could one day enable smaller exploration and science spacecraft that can't accommodate bulky solar or nuclear power systems. The power generation concept study was led by Stephen Polly of the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
FLOAT: Flexible Levitation on a Track is a lunar rail system that will enable reliable, autonomous, and efficient lunar cargo transportation that could support the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base as early as the 2030s. Ethan Scherer leads FLOAT at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
ScienceCraft for Exoplanet Exploration will enable quantum dot-based sensors to be placed across the surface of a solar sail, making it an innovative imaging device. Quantum physics allows NASA to make scientific measurements by studying how the dots absorb light. Leveraging the surface area of a solar sail will enable lighter, more cost-effective spacecraft to carry imaging devices throughout the solar system. ScienceCraft is led by NASA's Mahmouda Sultana at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate is responsible for developing new cross-disciplinary technologies and capabilities for NASA to accomplish current and future missions and provides funding for the NIAC program.
For more information about NIAC and the 2024 Phase II study, please see below.
https://www.nasa.gov/stmd-the-nasa-innovative-advanced-concepts-niac/
