NIAC Studies

Kimberly WeaverNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Some of the most enigmatic objects in the Universe are giant supermassive black holes (SMBH). Yet after 30 years of study, we don’t know precisely how these objects produce their power. This requires observations at X-ray wavelengths.

Posted January 10, 2025

NIAC Studies

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program

SUPREME-QG: Space-borne Ultra-Precise Measurement of the Equivalence Principle Signature of Quantum Gravity

Selim ShahriarNorthwestern University, Evanston Progress in physics has largely been driven by the development and verification of new theories that unify different fundamental forces of nature.

Posted January 10, 2025

NIAC Studies

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program

Thermo-Photo-Catalysis of Water for Crewed Mars Transit Spacecraft Oxygen Supply

Saurabh VilekarPrecision Combustion Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) proposes to develop a uniquely compact, lightweight, low-power, and durable Microlith® Thermo-Photo-Catalytic (TPC) Reactor for crewed Mars transit spacecraft O2 supply.

Posted January 10, 2025

NIAC Studies

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program

Inflatable Starshade for Earthlike Exoplanets

John MatherNASA Goddard Space Flight Center We will design the first family of ISEE’s (Inflatable Starshade for Earthlike Exoplanets) with sizes from 35 to 100 m diameter. A starshade would enable any telescope to observe exoplanets, a top priority for astronomy worldwide.

Posted January 10, 2025

NIAC Studies

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program

PULSAR: Planetary pULSe-tAkeR

Marco QuadrelliNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory There is a strong coupling mechanism between the lithosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere, atmosphere, and the plasmasphere of many planetary bodies.

Posted January 10, 2025

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program

NIAC Studies

TOBIAS: Tethered Observatory for Balloon-based Imaging and Atmospheric Sampling

Ben HockmanNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory A basketball-sized towbody containing a camera, atmospheric sampling instruments, and support hardware is suspended on a multi-kilometer tether from a high-altitude balloon in the Venusian atmosphere, allowing it to peer beneath the dense cloud layer and image the surface at high resolution.

Posted January 10, 2025

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program

NIAC Studies

Mycotecture off Planet: En route to the Moon and Mars

Lynn RothschildNASA Ames Research Center (ARC) A turtle carries its habitat. While reliable, it costs energy in transporting mass. NASA makes the same trade-off when it transports habitats and other structures off planet “on the back” of its missions.

Posted June 26, 2024

NIAC Studies

Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT)

Ethan SchalerNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory We want to build the first lunar railway system, which will provide reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the Moon.

Posted May 1, 2024

NIAC Studies

ScienceCraft for Outer Planet Exploration (SCOPE)

Mahmooda SultanaNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Missions to the outer solar system are an important part of NASA’s goals because these scarcely visited worlds, particularly the ice giants Neptune and Uranus, hold secrets about the formation and evolution of our solar system and countless others.

Posted May 1, 2024

NIAC Studies

Radioisotope Thermoradiative Cell Power Generator

Stephen PollyRochester Institute of Technology In this project we will continue our Phase I efforts to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a revolutionary power source for missions to the outer planets utilizing a new paradigm in thermal power conversion, the thermoradiative cell (TRC).

Posted May 1, 2024