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Science fiction often depicts humans as interplanetary (or even interstellar) beings, but we need a lot of technological advancement to move from earthbound terrestrials to spacefaring explorers.
Fortunately, NASA has a program called Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC).
To help bring some of these sci-fi-inspired technologies to life, NIAC just announced the recipients of a $175,000 grant for exploring advanced space-based technologies.
These include ideas such as TitanAir, a seaplane that can fly through Saturn’s moon Titan’s nitrogen and methane atmosphere, and lunar pipelines that transport oxygen between lunar settlements.
“NASA dares to make the impossible possible,”
NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.
“The NIAC program helps give these forward-thinking scientists and engineers the tools and support they need to spur technology that will enable future NASA missions.”
But to make “the impossible possible,” as Nelson says, scientists need to crack the biggest hurdle to space travel: getting from point A to point B much faster.
Three projects in NAIC’s group of 14 aim to reimagine space travel, but the most ambitious is an idea called “pellet-beam propulsion.”
- NASA is investing in a far-out space exploration concept called “pellet-beam propulsion.”
- The technology could transport spacecraft weighing 1 ton to the orbit of Neptune in one year.
- The system is somewhat similar to a solar sail.
