NASA has just selected 18 technological ideas that could one day transform space exploration. Some directly concern the Moon, others Saturn, Venus, exoplanets, or interstellar travel.
These projects belong to the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, better known by the acronym NIAC. The total budget reaches $3.2 million. Each team will receive up to $175,000 for nine months of work to examine the feasibility of its concept and identify its main technical obstacles.
NASA illustration (NIAC)
Several proposals target future lunar operations. One involves robots capable of hovering to explore lava tubes beneath the surface. Another focuses on thermal control of small mobile vehicles. A third project studies the integration of radioisotope heat sources into spacesuits, to protect astronauts during lunar nights, which last almost two Earth weeks.
Venus is also among the destinations being considered. Its extremely hot atmosphere imposes severe conditions on instruments and vehicles. One team will therefore study an architecture capable of increasing their resistance and operational lifetime on site.
Saturn inspires two separate projects. The first imagines a constellation of 10,000 tiny satellites, individually steerable, to map the rings and analyze their environment. The second, named PRAXIS, explores a method of direct sampling from the rings of Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune.
Other teams are looking far beyond the Solar System. One proposal concerns stackable solar sails designed to achieve large velocity changes. Another studies thermophotovoltaic power generation using a radioisotope source, with the long-term goal of powering interstellar probes.
Scientists also want to improve observation of phenomena that are difficult to measure today. Some concepts aim to distinguish continents on exoplanets, observe photon rings around black holes, or detect faint gravitational waves linked to galaxy formation. These projects, however, still rely on theoretical studies and instrument architectures that need to be validated.
Two projects are closer to Earth-related concerns. One examines the use of a controllable cloud of dust in space to reduce part of the solar radiation received by Earth. The other concerns the monitoring of orbital debris, to improve knowledge of their position and associated risks.
The NIAC program is precisely designed to test this kind of idea at a very early stage. The teams will now have to establish what can actually work, measure possible performance, and identify physical or industrial limits. Only concepts deemed credible enough may qualify for additional study phases.