WASHINGTON, January 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — NASA has selected 15 visionary ideas for its NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which develops concepts to transform future missions for the benefit of all. Chosen among companies and institutions around the world the United StatesTHE Winners of phase I 2025 represent a wide range of aerospace concepts.
The NIAC program promotes innovation by funding early-stage technology concept studies for future review and potential commercialization. The combined price for the 2025 concepts is a maximum of $2.625 million in grants to evaluate technologies that could enable future aerospace missions.
“Our next steps and giant leaps rely on innovation, and the concepts born from NIAC can radically change the way we explore deep space, work in low Earth orbit, and protect our home planet,” said Clayton Turnerassociate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at Washington. “From the development little robots that could swim across the oceans of other worlds to growing space habitats against fungithis program continues to change what is possible.”
Newly selected concepts include feasibility studies to explore the Sun’s influence on our solar system, building sustainable glass lunar habitats, exploring Saturn’s icy moon, and much more. All NIAC studies are in the early stages of conceptual development and are not considered official NASA missions.
Ryan WeedHelicity Space LLC to Pasadena, Californiaoffers a constellation of spacecraft powered by Helicity Drive, a compact and scalable fusion propulsion system, which could enable rapid, multi-directional exploration of the heliosphere and beyond, providing unprecedented insights into how the Sun interacts with our solar system and interstellar space. Demonstrating the feasibility of fusion propulsion could also benefit deep space exploration, including crewed missions to Mars.
Martin BermudezSkyeports LLC to Sacramento, Californiapresents the concept of building a large-scale lunar glass habitat in a low-gravity environment. Nicknamed LUNGS (Lunar Glass Structure), This approach involves melting lunar glass compounds to create a large spherical shell structure. This idea offers a promising solution for establishing large-scale autonomous habitats on the lunar surface.
Justin Yim, University of Illinois at Urbanaoffers a well-named jumping robot LEAP (Exploration on legs through the plume), as a new robotic sampling concept to explore Enceladus, a small icy moon of Saturn covered in geysers or jets. LEAP robots could make it possible to collect pristine ocean-derived materials directly from Enceladus’ jets and measure particle properties across multiple jets by moving from one to another.
“All advancements start with an idea. The NIAC program allows NASA to invest in unique ideas that enable innovation and support the nation’s aerospace economy,” said John Nelsonmanager of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program Washington.
NIAC researchers, called fellows, will study the fundamental premises of their concepts, identify potential challenges, and seek opportunities to bring these concepts to life.
In addition to the projects mentioned above, the following selected received NIAC Phase I 2025 grants:
- Michael Hecht, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge: EVE (Exploring Venus with Electrolysis)
- Selim Shahriar, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL: SUPREME-QG: Ultra-precise spatial measurement of the signature of the equivalence principle of quantum gravity
- Philip Ansell, University of Illinois, Urbana: Hy2PASS (Hydrogen Hybrid Power for Aviation Sustainable Systems)
- Ryan BensonThinkOrbital Inc., Boulder, Colorado: Construction assembly destination
- Gyula Greschik, Tentguild Engineering Co, Boulder, Colorado: The ribbon: structureless sail for solar polar observation
- Marco QuadrelliNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Southern California: PULSAR: planetary pulse taker
- Ben HockmanNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Southern California: TOBIAS: Tethered Observatory for Balloon Imaging and Atmospheric Sampling
- Kimberly WeaverNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland: Contemplate the power of black holes with the Accretion Explorer interferometer
- John Mather Goddard Space Flight Center at NASA Greenbelt, Maryland: Inflatable Starshade for Terrestrial Exoplanets
- Robert HinshawNASA Ames Research Center from California Silicon Valley: MitoMars: targeted mitochondrial replacement therapy to increase endurance in deep space
- Christine GreggNASA Ames Research Center from California Silicon Valley: Dynamically stable large space structures via architected metamaterials
- Saurabh VilekarPrecision combustion, North Haven, CT: Thermo-Photo-Catalysis of Water for the Supply of Oxygen to Crewed Transit Spacecraft on Mars
NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate funds the NIAC program because it is responsible for developing the agency’s new cross-cutting technologies and capabilities to achieve its current and future missions.
To learn more about NIAC, visit:
SOURCENASA
