NASA is always on the lookout for new ideas, and has just selected the latest projects to fund under the Innovative Advanced Concepts Program. Six research teams happened The second phase is awarded for further development of its future designs, which include a strategy for destroying asteroids that threaten Earth and a plan to allow astronauts to produce their own medicines in space.
NASA announced The first phase of the project in January, with 14 recipients receiving $175,000. For Phase Two, only six have been selected for further funding, receiving up to $600,000 over two years to develop their concepts further.
“The concepts selected under NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program will help empower researchers to pioneer new technologies that can revolutionize exploration in the skies and improve everyday life here on Earth,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.
Phase II grant recipients reflect NASA’s interest in further exploration of Earth, protecting our planet from upcoming threats, and caring for the health of astronauts in space.
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Planetary defense
Earth is essentially defenseless against the effects of space rocks. In September 2022, NASA’s DART mission has successfully deflected a non-threatening asteroidchanging its orbit slightly using the kinetic effect in the Planetary Defense test.
This is one way to protect the Earth, but a team from the University of California proposes another, more violent way. they Approaching Planetary defense is to smash the incoming asteroid and rely on Earth’s atmosphere as a shield from the resulting fragments.
Their concept is to use a bunch of tiny, ultra-fast kinetic penetrators to fragment the asteroid into smaller fragments, which due to the extreme heat and pressure would burn up upon entering Earth’s atmosphere. “Phase II of this project includes significantly expanding on the above simulation efforts, as well as exploring key steps on the roadmap toward an operational planetary defense system,” NASA wrote.
lunar views
The best place to place a radio telescope is on the far side of the Moon, away from Earth’s disturbing, interfering radio waves. FarView is a concept for a radio observatory installed on the far side of the Moon, consisting of 100,000 antennas stretched across 77 square miles (200 square kilometers).
The telescope will be made from local lunar resources, such as minerals found in lunar regolith. “For the Phase II proposal, we will develop the FarView observatory concept through modeling and experimentation with the goal of solving key issues related to both science performance and manufacturing processes that will enable the construction of FarView on the far side of the Moon,” a team from Lunar Resources wrote in a statement. statement.
vertical drop
This concept is about the future of aircraft. A team from MIT is developing it almost silently pneumatic thrusters that would be used for vertical take-off and landing aircraft, for both passengers and cargo. One of the main hurdles in introducing the concept was the noise caused by the electric planes, which is why the project aimed to build a quiet one.
Using Phase II funding, team members want to design, build and fly an aircraft propelled by electro-dynamic motors for a few minutes.
Space Pharmacy
During long periods in Earth orbit or in deep space, astronauts will not have easy access to medicines. This futuristic concept wants to enable astronauts to create their own medicines using bacteria during spaceflight missions.
A space pharmacy can help treat radiation exposure or maintain astronauts’ bone health, two common hazards of space travel.
“These new awards demonstrate the breadth of how NIAC-supported concepts can transform exploration,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, in a statement. “From revolutionary propulsion systems for deep space missions to advances in aviation to transform the way we travel here on Earth, these technologies will radically expand our capabilities in the air and in space.”
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