From satellites for Saturn to underground bases on the Moon: NASA will fund 18 innovative space projects

NASA has selected 18 promising technology concepts under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The agency will allocate a total of $3.2 million to their research to evaluate the feasibility of using the developments in future space missions.

This is reported by Space.com .

Each of the 18 projects will receive up to $175,000 for a 9-month research period, during which the scientists will determine the feasibility of their concepts and possible next steps for developing the technology.

NASA emphasizes that the selected projects are not approved space missions. They are intended to demonstrate technologies that could potentially be used in future programs, including for a long-term human presence on the Moon as part of Artemis.

Among the selected concepts are projects for exploring the Moon, Saturn, and exoplanets, as well as technologies for protecting spacecraft from extreme conditions.

One such development is the Lunar Underground eXplorer (LUX), proposed by researcher Gilly Elor of Stone Aerospace. The concept involves using flying robots to map the extensive lava tunnels beneath the Moon’s surface.

The robots would travel underground, receiving power and communications via an ultra-light fiber optic cable connected to a lander or rover on the surface. Such underground cavities are seen as potentially suitable for future settlements because they naturally shield from solar radiation.

Another project aims to map the surfaces of Earth-like exoplanets. Researcher Paul Stankus of Brookhaven Science Associates proposes creating a new type of interferometer that would combine data from multiple space telescopes to produce images of the planets’ surface features.

According to the plan, 2 space telescopes, located approximately 100 km apart, will be able to create images of exoplanets whose luminosity is 10 billion times lower than the brightness of their stars.

Another concept involves exploring Saturn’s rings using thousands of tiny satellites. Michael Rubenstein and researchers at Northwestern University propose sending up to 10,000 so-called “femtosatellites” weighing less than 100 grams into the planet’s rings.

The idea is to use a large number of cheap devices instead of one large probe. Due to numerous collisions with ring particles, some of the satellites may be lost, but the distributed system should allow research to continue even after significant losses.

Among other ideas, NASA cites technologies to increase the stability of spacecraft during the exploration of Venus, special lunar spacesuits with radioisotope heating, and the use of controlled clouds of space dust to partially block solar radiation.

NASA’s Advanced Research and Technology Division Director Greg Stover noted that future space programs require more than just incremental technology improvements.

“Achieving this goal will require more than incremental technological progress. We need big leaps,” Stover said.

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