Can NASA build a lunar base, a solar gravitational lens, and a trip to Mars?

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Future technologies that could enable faster trips to Mars and exploration of other distant bodies may start with NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC). The program, which invests in early-stage technology ideas from researchers at NASA, industry and academia around the world, selected 23 potentially revolutionary concepts for a total of $7 million in prize money. Of those selected, 16 new concepts and seven studies have previously won at least one NIAC award.

"NIAC is an innovative program that encourages researchers and the agency to think outside the box to find solutions to overcome challenges facing future science and exploration missions," said Walt Engelund, deputy associate administrator for programs in NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). "We are excited about the new concepts and seeing how the additional time and resources advance the studies selected for subsequent Phase II and Phase III studies." A mission concept to image an Earth-like planet outside our solar system was selected for Phase III study.

Slava Turyshev, a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, will receive a $2 million grant to further mature the concept and related technologies. In Phase I and Phase II NIAC studies, Turyshev outlined the feasibility of solar gravity lenses to enhance observations of planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets. A mission architecture was also developed using multiple small spacecraft and solar sail technology to propel them to their target destination 50 billion miles from Earth.

The Sun as a gravitational lens

This is only the third study selected for Phase 3 funding in the program's history, and NASA is excited about its potential to get us closer to imaging exoplanets in detail with resolution comparable to the famous Apollo 8 Earthrise photo. Selected Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies will explore the overall feasibility of a technology and develop it into a mission concept. Areas researchers will investigate include mapping asteroids and other small bodies in the solar system with hopping probes, manufacturing medicines on demand in space, and extracting water on the moon.

Several of the concepts could inform capabilities associated with NASA's Artemis program, which aims to safely land the first woman and next man on the Moon in 2024 and establish a sustainable presence on and around the Moon by 2028. NASA selected the proposals through a peer review process that evaluated innovation and technical feasibility. All projects are still in the early stages of development, with most requiring a decade or more of technology maturation and are not official NASA missions. NIAC supports visionary research ideas by studying multiple stages of advancement.

Phase I studies receive $125,000 for a nine-month effort. Eligible Phase I awardees may submit proposals for follow-on Phase II studies. Selected Phase II researchers will receive $500,000 for further research over a period of up to two years. Phase III is designed to strategically transform NIAC concepts to have the greatest potential impact for NASA, other government agencies, or commercial partners. Phase III researchers receive $2 million to develop and mature their mission concepts over a two-year period. NIAC is funded by STMD, which is responsible for developing new cross-cutting technologies and capabilities required for the agency to achieve current and future missions.

Bo Ke Yuan | Research/Source: NASA

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