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The concepts in NIAC\u2019s arena are usually early in development \u2013 generally 10 years or more from operation. They are chosen based on peer review of the potential impact, technical strength and benefits of the proposed study.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Goddard or Tsiolkovsky envisioned rockets taking humans to space, the rest of the world focused on the industrial revolution and challenges of the early 20th century,\u201d said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA\u2019s Space Technology Program at the agency\u2019s headquarters in Washington.<\/p>\n
![\"NIAC\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Z92.jpg\" "\\"NIAC\\"")
\u201cThese visionaries had radical ideas of space travel and exploration that would take dozens to hundreds of years for maturation, but were worth waiting for. NASA\u2019s NIAC seeks proposals from today\u2019s visionaries who have futuristic concepts that may transform how we live, work and explore the high frontier.\u201d<\/p>\nNASA mission updates
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Based on their return in 2011, NIAC\u2019s current portfolio includes multiple technology areas contributing to innovations in revolutionary construction, human systems, sensing or imaging, autonomous exploration, and aerospace transportation.<\/p>\n
These include revolutions in propulsion \u2013 one of the shackles that is restricting human space flight from looking any further than Mars in our short to medium term future.<\/p>\n
Interesting ideas proposed in Group 1 from the 2011 NIAC effort included \u201cMetallic Hydrogen: A Game Changing Rocket Propellant\u201d \u2013 a concept which \u201cwould revolutionize rocketry\u201d, as introduced by Isaac Silvera of Harvard University.<\/p>\n
![\"NIAC](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Z511.jpg\" "\\"NIAC")
John Slough of MSNW LLC, also focused on deep space exploration via his \u201cNuclear Propulsion Through Direct Conversion of Fusion Energy\u201d concept that was also part of the Group 1 proposals.<\/p>\nOn the nuclear fission side of the NIAC supported concepts, Robert Werka \u2013 of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) \u2013 approached NIAC with his \u201cConcept Assessment of a Fission Fragment Rocket Engine (FFRE) Propelled Spacecraft, which has a safety bonus of enabling the reactor to be charged after arrival in LEO.\u201d<\/p>\n
These past NIAC Phase I proposals have included a broad range of imaginative and creative ideas, including: using electromagnets to protect spacecraft from radiation; the application of terrestrial ocean exploring concepts for extremely low-power exploration of under-ice oceans believed to be on Europa; and printing entire spacecraft on sheets of paper.<\/p>\n
The latest NIAC Phase I solicitations will incorporate a two-step process, with NIAC accepting short proposals, limited to three pages, until February 14. After review, NASA will invite those whose proposal concepts are of interest to the agency to submit a full proposal of no more than eight pages. Full proposals will be due April 18.<\/p>\n
NASA expects to fund about 15 proposals in this year\u2019s Phase I process. Those selected may receive up to $100,000 for nine months of study to advance the innovative space technology concept and help NASA meet current operational and future mission requirements. Selection announcements are expected this summer.<\/p>\n
Images via NASA\/NIAC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NASA\u2019s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program announced the kick-off of its 2013 drive on Tuesday, calling for proposals involving revolutionary concepts with the potential to transform future aerospace missions. With up to $100,000 on offer per project, NIAC is at the forefront of potentially finding the next big space flight breakthrough. NIAC: Returning in 2011 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39933"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}