NASA Funds 13 Innovative Space Exploration Concepts for 2024

Projects include a fleet of miniature spacecraft to Proxima Centauri, a fixed-wing aircraft for Mars exploration, and a mission to return surface samples from Venus.

• NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program has selected 13 new projects for its 2024 Phase I awards, providing up to $175,000 each for the development of advanced and unconventional space technologies.
• Among the selected projects is a proposal by Thomas Eubanks of Space Initiatives Inc. for a fleet of miniature spacecraft to travel to Proxima Centauri, our Sun's closest interstellar neighbor, using innovative laser sailcraft and laser communications.
• Ge-Cheng Zha of Coflow Jet LLC proposed the first-ever flight of a fixed-wing, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft on Mars, capable of traveling up to 111 miles from a fully charged battery and flying at heights reaching 3,280 feet.
• Geoff Landis from NASA’s Glenn Research Center is working on a mission to return surface samples from Venus, proposing an innovative rocket that can create fuel using the carbon monoxide found in the Venusian atmosphere.
• Other proposals include a solar-system-scale interferometer for precise cosmological distance measurements, technology for more efficient and long-lasting storage of fuel in space, and a system to break down and eliminate harmful chemicals from the Martian environment.

3 Articles

Gizmodo GeekWire NASA