The future of space exploration requires big ideas, but there’s nothing stopping NASA from considering some of the biggest ideas out there. The Agency for Innovative Concepts (NIAC) exists for this very purpose, and has chosen the next crop of ideas worthy of initial study.
In the latest round of NIAC grants, fourteen research teams were given $175,000 each to further develop their ideas; NASA reported yesterday Of the 14, 10 are the primitive recipients of time. All these are preliminary studies that must be completed within nine months.
“These initial Phase I NIAC studies are helping NASA determine if these futuristic ideas could set the stage for future space exploration and enable amazing new missions,” Michael LaPointe, program executive for NIAC, said in a statement.
I could see success in Phase II moving some of these ideas to Phase II, in which researchers are granted more money and two years to further develop their ambitious designs. Only a select few make it to third base: Phase III.
NIAC permits typically cover a wide spectrum of space based interests; and this year’s selections are no different. NASA maintains a balance between Earth and space science, space exploration, and, most importantly for space in between, the development of its Diana program, under which NASA seeks a sustainable and long-term return to the Moon.
they fly the AirTitan
It is among the most eye-catching ideas AirTitan project was predicted by planetary scientist Quinn Morley’s Planetary efforts. Various ideas for exploring Saturn’s moon Titan proposed beforeand NASA is already in the middle to prepare for the Dragonfly mission, but Morley’s idea is seen at the closest level. The AirTitan autonomous vehicle would be as comfortable flying in Titan’s thick atmosphere as it would be navigating its methane lakes.
Morley provides daily flights for AirTitan to seamlessly transition from watercraft (er, methanecraft?) to aircraft. In addition to sampling Titan’s atmosphere complex, the probe will collect and analyze liquid samples. Titan is indeed of significant astrobiological interest, as it evokes prebiotic organic chemistry. That said, a pool of grease could present a problem, but an inflatable horn liner “offers stability and alleviates sludge build-up problems,” according to Morley.
Satellite megaconstellations of astronomy
NASA is also interested in the Great Observatory for Long Wavelengths a concept proposed by Mary Knapp of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This space-based observatory would consist of thousands of identical satellites operating at the fifth Earth-Sun Lagrange point (L5). By hunting for radio emissions at frequencies between 100 kHz and 15 MHz, the satellites could study the magnetic fields of distant exoplanets and detect rocky exoplanets similar to our own.
“Failure to fail quickly, the lack of a cheap approach is a sharp departure from tradition,” writes Knapp, adding that “SpaceX and other new entrants to the launch vehicle market have pushed the market to lower and lower costs, through innovation and manufacturing economics. They are climbing after the Mega-constellations.”
Beam propulsion
NASA wants Artur Davoyan from the University of California, Los Angeles to further develop his ball-beam impact system a concept that a mechanic and aerospace engineer provides for a means to transport heavy space objects to targets throughout the solar system and even into interstellar space. The proposed propulsion system would use a ball beam – a beam of microscopic hypervelocity particles propelled by lasers – to propel spacecraft to desired locations. Unlike other concepts, the ball beam allows for the transport of heavy space, which Davoyan says “substantially increases the possible missions”.
Pellet-beam propulsion could take payloads to the outer planets in less than a year and to distances greater than 100 times the Earth-Sun distance (au) would require about three years. For the current study, Davoyan will consider the effectiveness of using a ball beam to transport a 1ton payload to 500 au in less than 20 years. For reference, Pluto is “just” 35.6 au from Earth, while NASA’s Voyager 2, which was launched 45 years ago, is now about 133 au from Earth.
An oxygen pipeline to the lunar south pole
A key priority of NASA’s Artemis program is to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon, a challenge that can be overcome using space management. on-site resources, such as extracting lunar oxygen from the regolith (soil) and water-ice. Peter Curreri of Moon Resources in Houston agrees, but he’s not a fan of NASA’s current plan explains:
Current efforts are funded by the site [on-site] The extraction of oxygen consists of the movement of oxygen in compressed or liquefied lakes and stored in roses. Either approach requires trucking tanks or trucks to various facilities for use. The process of moving this oxygen into pirates is more intensive than the extraction process and is considered to be the most expensive aspect of obtaining oxygen in-situ on the Moon considering the long distances the resource extraction area will have from human habitation. or liquid plant.
But Curreri proposes a lunar tube, which would be constructed at the south lunar pole, as where most of the moon’s water ice is located. The idea attracted NASA’s attention, resulting in a Phase I research grant.
The pipes would provide the settlers with constant access to the precious oxygen, while also connecting the scattered forts. “The lunar pipeline has never been followed and lunar surface operations will turn into a craft program and reduce cost and risk,” Curreri says.
Growing bricks on Mars
NASA also has its sights set on Mars, so Congrui Grace Jin, an engineer from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, wants to express his idea of growing meat on bricks on Mars, as opposed to importing them from Earth. Yes, colonists need to build structures on Mars, but that means bringing the materials down in separate missions, adding costs. More usefully, Jin’s research suggests that “prefabricated Mars armament elements” rather than Mars ships, the armament habitat can be identified from in-situ construction using cyanobacteria and fungi as building agents.”
These microbes would generate biominerals and polymers to glue the Martian regolith into building blocks. “These self-growing building blocks can later be assembled into various structures, such as floors, walls, fences, and furniture,” Jin writes.
These are just a few of the 14 ideas NASA selected for this year’s NIAC grant. You can learn more about other research proposals this. To be clear, these ideas have not been approved as actual projects, they all still need to pass NASA testing. some and perhaps everything about these ideas they may die in life, but these kinds of speculations are always useful and provide a sneak preview of what may eventually become.
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