NASA Investigates Revolutionary Space Exploration Concepts

Mike Braukus/J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington, June 15, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1979/5241)

Bill Steigerwald
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 301/286-5017)

RELEASE: 05-151

NASA INVESTIGATES REVOLUTIONARY SPACE EXPLORATION CONCEPTS

The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) has selected
its 2005 Phase 1 awards. The Phase 1 awards are 12, six-month
study proposals beginning in September that could revolutionize
space exploration.

If the concepts prove feasible, space explorers may one day
deploy superconducting cables that magnetically inflate to
form the structure of a space telescope one kilometer across;
launch a satellite with a magnetic scoop to mine the radiation
belts surrounding Earth for antimatter fuel; or enjoy a feast
from a food replicator that creates a variety of meals from a
few common ingredients.

"These new Phase I awards have the potential for enabling
future missions that are not thought to be possible with
current systems. As a result of the process of exploring
advanced concepts, new enabling technologies may be identified
that could impact near-term plans and missions," said Dr. Robert
Cassanova of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA).
Cassanova is the NIAC director. The USRA runs NIAC for NASA.

NIAC was created in 1998 to solicit revolutionary concepts from
people and organizations outside the agency that could advance
NASA's missions. The proposals push the limits of known science
and technology, and positive results are not expected for at
least a decade or more.

Proposals selected for Phase 1 awards typically receive up to
$75,000 for a six-month study that validates the viability of
the concept and identifies challenges that must be overcome to
make the proposal a reality.

Proposals selected for the 2005 Phase 1 awards:

-- A Contamination-Free Ultrahigh-Precision Formation Flight
Method Based on Intracavity Photon Thrusters and Tethers
(Principle Investigator (PI): Dr. Young K. Bae, Bae Institute,
Tustin, Calif.)

-- Extraction of Antiparticles Concentrated in Planetary
Magnetic Fields (PI: Mr. James Bickford, Draper Laboratory,
Cambridge, Mass.)

-- Customizable, Reprogrammable, Food Preparation, Production
and Invention System (PI: Dr. Eric Bonabeau, Icosystem
Corporation, Cambridge, Mass.)

-- Scalable Flat-Panel Nano-Particle MEMS/NEMS Propulsion
Technology for Space Exploration in the 21st Century (PI: Dr.
Brian Gilchrist, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.)

-- Antimatter Harvesting in Space (PI: Dr. Gerald P. Jackson,
Hbar Technologies, LLC, Chicago)

-- Multi-MICE: A Network of Interactive Nuclear Cryoprobes to
Explore Ice Sheets on Mars and Europa (PI: Dr. George Maise,
Plus Ultra Technologies, Inc., Stony Brook, N.Y.)

-- Artificial Neural Membrane Flapping Wing (PI: Dr. Pamela A.
Menges, Aerospace Research Systems, Inc., Cincinnati)

-- Lorentz-Actuated Orbits: Electrodynamic Propulsion without a
Tether (PI: Dr. Mason Peck, Cornell University College of
Engineering, Ithaca, N.Y.)

-- Magnetically Inflated Cable System for Space Applications
(PI: Dr. James Powell, Plus Ultra Technologies, Stony Brook, N.Y.)

-- Ultra-High Resolution Fourier Transform X-ray Interferometer
(PI: Dr. Herbert Schnopper, Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory, Cambridge, Mass.)

-- Positron-Propelled and Powered Space Transport Vehicle for
Planetary Missions (PI: Dr. Gerald A. Smith, Positronics
Research LLC, Santa Fe, N.M.)

-- Modular Spacecraft with Integrated Structural Electrodynamic
Propulsion (PI: Mr. Nestor Voronka, Tethers Unlimited, Bothell,
Wash.)

For more information about NIAC and these proposals on the
Internet, visit:

http://www.niac.usra.edu/

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html

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