Smart spacesuits and solar surfing may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but they are just two of the technology concepts NASA has selected for further research as part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.
Smart spacesuits and solar surfing may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but they are just two of the technology concepts NASA has selected for further research as part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The program will fund 18 studies to determine the feasibility of early-stage technologies that could go on to change what's possible in space.
The funded technologies have the potential to transform human and robotic exploration of other worlds, including the Moon and Mars. One researcher, for example, will study an affordable way to mine the ample ice at the Moon's polar regions. NASA aims to send astronauts to land on the Moon's South Pole in five years.
Two studies were chosen from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, including a Venus lander charged by a floating power generator, and a fleet of small satellites that could explore the edges of the solar system and beyond.
Read more at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Image: NASA has selected two new concepts from JPL for future mission ideas, including a small satellite that could fly to the outer edges of the solar system. In this photo, a set of Earth-observing CubeSats launch from the International Space Station in 2014. (Credit: NASA)
