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takyon writes:

The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program is funding another round of studies of space technology concepts, including shapeshifting robots that can adapt to multiple terrains, a small rover that can carry the bulky life equipment that an astronaut would normally carry on their back, a combined particle and laser beam for accelerating small payloads, space habitats constructed using fungal mycelium, a modular self-assembling space telescope with a large aperture, and a radioisotope positron propulsion system.

Some of the Phase 2 concepts that were selected for further study include a space telescope with a 1 kilometer aperture, a Triton "hopper", a harvester that can manufacture propellant from ice in order to launch a sample return, and a Mach Effect thruster.

Several of the proposals mention the goal of getting a space telescope to at least 548.7 AU away from the Sun to perform astronomy using the Sun as a gravitational lens. For example, the Breakthrough Propulsion Architecture for Interstellar Precursor Missions could get a payload out to 550 AU in 15 years, although it would require a multi-hundred-megawatt phased-array laser.

Original Submission

1. "takyon" - https://soylentnews.org/~takyon/
2. "funding another round of studies" - https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-invests-in-shapeshifters-biobots-other-visionary-technology
3. "accelerating small payloads" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakthrough_Starshot
4. "large aperture" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_UV_Optical_Infrared_Surveyor
5. "Triton" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triton_(moon)
6. "Mach Effect" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodward_effect
7. "astronomy using the Sun as a gravitational lens" - https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/ultimate-space-telescope-would-use-sun-lens-180962499/
8. "Shapeshifters from Science Fiction to Science Fact: Globetrotting from Titan's Rugged Cliffs to its Deep Seafloors" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Shapeshifters_from_Science_Fiction_to_Science_Fact
9. "Biobot: Innovative Offloading of Astronauts for More Effective Exploration" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Biobot_Innovative_Offloading_of_Astronauts
10. "Lofted Environmental and Atmospheric Venus Sensors (LEAVES)" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Lofted_Environmental_and_Atmospheric_Venus_Sensors/
11. "Meteoroid Impact Detection for Exploration of Asteroids (MIDEA)" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Meteoroid_Impact_Detection_for_Exploration_of_Asteroids/
12. "On-Orbit, Collision-Free Mapping of Small Orbital Debris" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/On-Orbit_Collision-Free_Mapping
13. "Marsbee – Swarm of Flapping Wing Flyers for Enhanced Mars Exploration" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Marsbee_Swarm_of_Flapping_Wing_Flyers_for_Enhanced_Mars_Exploration/
14. "Rotary Motion Extended Array Synthesis (R-MXAS)" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Rotary_Motion_Extended_Array_Synthesis/
15. "PROCSIMA: Diffractionless Beamed Propulsion for Breakthrough Interstellar Missions" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/PROCSIMA/
16. "SPARROW: Steam Propelled Autonomous Retrieval Robot for Ocean Worlds" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Steam_Propelled_Autonomous_Retrieval_Robot_for_Ocean_Worlds/
17. "BALLET: Balloon Locomotion for Extreme Terrain" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/BALloon_Locomotion_for_Extreme_Terrain
18. "Myco-Architecture off Planet: Growing Surface Structures at Destination" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Myco-architecture_off_planet/
19. "Modular Active Self-Assembling Space Telescope Swarms" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Modular_Active_Self-Assembling_Space_Telescope_Swarms
20. "Astrophysics and Technical Study of a Solar Neutrino Spacecraft" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Astrophysics_and_Technical_Study_of_a_Solar_Neutrino_Spacecraft/
21. "Advanced Diffractive MetaFilm Sailcraft" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Advanced_Diffractive_MetaFilm_Sailcraft/
22. "Spectrally-Resolved Synthetic Imaging Interferometer" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Spectrally-Resolved_Synthetic_Imaging_Interferometer/
23. "Radioisotope Positron Propulsion" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Radioisotope_Positron_Propulsion/
24. "Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF) Propulsion Concept" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/PulsedFission-Fusion_Propulsion_Concept
25. "A Breakthrough Propulsion Architecture for Interstellar Precursor Missions" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Breakthrough_Propulsion_Architecture_for_Interstellar_Precursor_Missions/
26. "Kilometer Space Telescope (KST)" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Kilometer_Space_Telescope/
27. "Dismantling Rubble Pile Asteroids with AoES (Area-of-Effect Soft-bots)" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Dismantling_Rubble_Pile_Asteroids_with_AoES
28. "Triton Hopper: Exploring Neptune's Captured Kuiper Belt Object" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Triton_Hopper
29. "Spacecraft Scale Magnetospheric Protection from Galactic Cosmic Radiation" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Spacecraft_Scale_Magnetospheric_Protection_from_Galactic_Cosmic_Radiation
30. "Direct Multipixel Imaging and Spectroscopy of an Exoplanet with a Solar Gravity Lens Mission" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Direct_Multipixel_Imaging_and_Spectroscopy
31. "NIMPH: Nano Icy Moons Propellant Harvester" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Nano_Icy_Moons_Propellant_Harvester/
32. "Mach Effect for in space propulsion: Interstellar mission" - https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2018_Phase_I_Phase_II/Mach_Effect_for_In_Space_Propulsion_Interstellar_Mission/
33. "Original Submission" - https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=25703

printed from SoylentNews, 25 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Selected for 2018 on 2024-04-24 16:06:16