The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC), formerly NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC), is a NASA program for development of far reaching, long term advanced concepts by "creating breakthroughs, radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts". It funds work on revolutionary aeronautics and space concepts that can dramatically impact how NASA develops and conducts its missions. The program operated under the name NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts from 1998 until 2007 (managed by the Universities Space Research Association on behalf of NASA), and was reestablished in 2011 under the name NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts and continues to the present.
History The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) was a NASA-funded program that was operated by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) for NASA from 1998 until its closure on 31 August 2007. NIAC was to serve as "an independent open forum, a high-level point of entry to NASA for an external community of innovators, and an external capability for analysis and definition of advanced aeronautics and space concepts to complement the advanced concept activities conducted within NASA."Visions for the Future: A Review of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, National Academies Press, Washington DC (2009); ; (accessed 6 September 2012)
NIAC sought proposals for revolutionary aeronautics and space concepts to dramatically impact how NASA developed and conducted its missions. NIAC provided a highly visible, recognizable, and high-level entry point for outside thinkers and researchers. It encouraged proposers to think decades into the future in pursuit of concepts that would "leapfrog" the evolution of contemporary aerospace systems. These concepts were expected to be based on sound scientific principles and attainable within a 10 to 40-year time frame.
NIAC received a total of 1,309 proposals and awarded 126 Phase I grants and 42 Phase II contracts for a total value of $27.3 million from February 1998 to 2007.NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, 9th Annual & Final Report, 2006-2007, Performance Period July 12, 2006 - August 31, 2007 (page 9, Executive Summary, 4th paragraph)
NASA announced on March 1, 2011 that the NIAC concept would be re-established at NASA with similar goals,Marcia S. Smith, "NIAC2 Gets Underway at NASA, Two Other Technology Solicitations Announced", SpacePolicyOnline, 02-Mar-2011 (accessed 6 Sept. 2012)NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts web page (accessed 1 August 2012) maintaining the acronym NIAC.
NIAC 1998–2007
Studies funded by the original NIAC 1998–2007 include
Bio-Nano-Machines for Space Applications – Constantinos Mavroidis System Feasibility Demonstrations of Caves and Subsurface Constructs for Mars Habitation and Scientific Exploration (Caves of Mars Project) – Penelope J. Boston Lunar space elevator – Jerome Pearson – final report.pdf Magnetic sail – Robert Zubrin Mars Entomopter – Robert Michelson / Anthony Colozza – Phase II final report.pdf Mini-magnetospheric plasma propulsion – Robert M. Winglee Momentum exchange tether – Thomas J. Bogar – final report.pdf New Worlds Mission – Webster Cash Space elevator – Bradley C. Edwards
Closing of the original NIAC On July 2, 2007, NIAC announced that "NASA, faced with the constraints of achieving the Vision for Space Exploration, has made the difficult decision to terminate NIAC, which has been funded by NASA since inception. Effective August 31, 2007, the original NIAC organization ceased operations."The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is Closing", SpaceRef - Space News as it Happens, posted Monday, July 2, 2007 (accessed 5 September 2012)
Revised NIAC Following the termination of the original NIAC program, Congress requested a review of the NIAC program by the United States National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences.Marcia S. Smith, "NRC Calls for Reinstatement of NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts", SpacePolicyOnline, 10-Aug-2009 (accessed 6 Sept. 2012) The review was done in 2009, and concluded that in order to achieve its mission, NASA needs "a mechanism to investigate visionary, far-reaching advanced concepts," and recommended that NIAC, or a NIAC-like program, should be reestablished. Consistent with this recommendation, it was announced on March 1, 2011 that the NIAC was to be revived with similar goals leading to the establishment in 2011 of a project within the NASA Office of Chief Technologist, the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts, maintaining the acronym NIAC. It is now part of the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD).NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) web page (accessed July 10, 2013.)
According to Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program, "Through the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, NASA is taking the long-term view of technological investment and the advancement that is essential for accomplishing our missions. We are inventing the ways in which next-generation aircraft and spacecraft will change the world and inspiring Americans to take bold steps."David Szondy, "NASA announces advanced technology proposals", gizmag, August 5, 2012 (accessed 9 August 2012)
2011 NIAC Project Selections The revived NIAC, with the slightly-changed name "NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts," funded thirty phase-I studies in 2011 to investigate advanced concepts.Frank Morring, Jr., "NASA Starts Spending On Advanced Technology", Aviation Week, August 15, 2011 (accessed 9 August 2012)NASA Office of the Chief Technologist, 2011 NIAC Phase I Selections (accessed 1 August 2012)
Duda, Kevin: Variable Vector Countermeasure Suit (V2Suit) for Space Habitation and Exploration Ferguson, Scott: Enabling All-Access Mobility for Planetary Exploration Vehicles via Transformative Reconfiguration Gilland, James: The Potential for Ambient Plasma Wave Propulsion Gregory, Daniel: Space Debris Elimination (SpaDE) Hogue, Michael: Regolith Derived Heat Shield for a Planetary Body Entry and Descent System with In-Situ Fabrication Hohman, Kurt: Atmospheric Breathing Electric Thruster for Planetary Exploration Howe, Steven: Economical Radioisotope Power Khoshnevis, Behrokh: Contour Crafting Simulation Plan for Lunar Settlement Infrastructure Build-Up Kwiat, Paul: Entanglement-assisted Communication System for NASA's Deep-Space Missions: Feasibility Test and Conceptual Design Mankins, John: SPS-ALPHA: The First Practical Solar Power Satellite via Arbitrarily Large PHased Array Miller, David: High-temperature Superconductors as Electromagnetic Deployment and Support Structures in Spacecraft Paul, Michael: Non-Radioisotope Power Systems For Sunless Solar System Exploration Missions Pavone, Marco: Spacecraft/Rover Hybrids for the Exploration of Small Solar System Bodies Ritter, Joe: Ultra-Light "Photonic Muscle" Space Structures Scott, Gregory: Low Power Microrobotics Utilizing Biologically Inspired Energy Generation Short, Kendra: Printable Spacecraft Sibille, Laurent: In-Space Propulsion Engine Architecture based on Sublimation of Planetary Resources: from exploration robots to NEO mitigation Silvera, Isaac: Metallic Hydrogen: A Game Changing Rocket Propellant Slough, John: Nuclear Propulsion through Direct Conversion of Fusion Energy Staehle, Robert: Interplanetary CubeSats: Opening the Solar System to a Broad Community at Lower Cost Strekalov, Dmitry: Ghost Imaging of Space Objects Stysley, Paul: Laser-Based Optical Trap for Remote Sampling of Interplanetary and Atmospheric Particulate Matter Swartzlander, Grover: Steering of Solar Sails Using Optical Lift Force Tarditi, Alfonso: Aneutronic Fusion Spacecraft Architecture Thibeault, Sheila: Radiation Shielding Materials Containing Hydrogen, Boron, and Nitrogen: Systematic Computational and Experimental Study Tripathi, Ram: Meeting the Grand Challenge of Protecting Astronaut's Health: Electrostatic Active Space Radiation Shielding for Deep Space Missions Werka, Robert: Proposal for a Concept Assessment of a Fission Fragment Rocket Engine (FFRE) Propelled Spacecraft Westover, Shayne: Radiation Protection and Architecture Utilizing High Temperature Superconducting Magnets Whittaker, William: Technologies Enabling Exploration of Skylights, Lava Tubes and Caves Wie, Bong: Optimal Dispersion of Near-Earth Objects
2012 NIAC project selections In August 2012, NIAC announcedDavid E. Steitz, Aug. 1, 2012, NASA RELEASE 12-261, 2012 NASA Advanced Technology Concepts Selected For Study (accessed 10 July 2013) selection of 18 new phase-I proposals, along with Phase-II grants for continuation of 10 projects selected in earlier solicitations. These include many projects ranging from Landsailing rovers on Venus to schemes to explore under the ice of Europa.Keith Wagstaff, Time Magazine Techland blog, "What’s Next for NASA? 10 Wild Newly Funded Projects" August 14, 2012 (accessed 1 September 2012) Phase I projects selected were:NASA, NASA - NIAC 2012 Phase I & Phase II Awards Announcement, Feb. 11, 2013 (retrieved 28 Oct 2015)
Agogino, Adrian: Super Ball Bot - Structures for Planetary Landing and Exploration Arrieta, Juan: The Regolith Biters: A Divide-And-Conquer Architecture for Sample-Return Missions Cohen, Marc: Robotic Asteroid Prospector (RAP) Staged from L-1: Start of the Deep Space Economy Ditto, Thomas: HOMES - Holographic Optical Method for Exoplanet Spectroscopy Flynn, Michael: Water Walls: Highly Reliable and Massively Redundant Life Support Architecture Gellett, Wayne: Solid State Air Purification System Hoyt, Robert: NanoTHOR: Low-Cost Launch of Nanosatellites to Deep Space Hoyt, Robert: SpiderFab: Process for On-Orbit Construction of Kilometer-Scale Apertures Kirtley, David: A Plasma Aerocapture and Entry System for Manned Missions and Planetary Deep Space Orbiters Landis, Geoffrey: Venus Landsailing Rover Lantoine, Gregory: MAGNETOUR: Surfing Planetary Systems on Electromagnetic and Multi-Body Gravity Fields McCue, Leigh: Exploration of Under-Ice Regions with Ocean Profiling Agents (EUROPA) Nosanov, Jeffrey: Solar System Escape Architecture for Revolutionary Science (SSEARS) Predina, Joseph: NIST in Space: Better Remote Sensors for Better Science Quadrelli, Marco: Orbiting Rainbows: Optical Manipulation of Aerosols and the Beginnings of Future Space Construction Saif, Babak: Atom Interferometry for detection of Gravity Waves-a Winglee, Robert: Sample Return Systems for Extreme Environments Zha, GeCheng: Silent and Efficient Supersonic Bi-Directional Flying Wing
2013 NIAC project selections In 2013 NIAC conducted a third solicitation for proposals, with projects to start in the summer of 2013. NASA selected 12 phase-I projects with a wide range of imaginative concepts, including 3D printing of biomaterials, such as arrays of cells; using galactic rays to map the insides of asteroids; and an "eternal flight" platform that could hover in Earth's atmosphere, potentially providing better imaging, Wi-Fi, power generation, and other applications.NASA Press Release 13-222, 2013 NASA Advanced Technology Phase I Concepts Selected For Study, August 29, 2013 (accessed 5 November 2014) They selected 6 phase II projects, including photonic laser thrusters, extreme sample return, and innovative spherical robots designed for planetary exploration.NASA, Press release 13-270, NASA Selects 2013 NASA Innovative Advanced Technology Concepts for Continued Study, August 29, 2013 (accessed 5 November 2014)
Phase I selections were: Adams, Rob: Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF) Propulsion System Bradford, John: Torpor Inducing Transfer Habitat For Human Stasis To Mars Hemmati, Hamid: Two-Dimensional Planetary Surface Landers Jerred, Nathan: Dual-mode Propulsion System Enabling CubeSat Exploration of the Solar System Longman, Anthony: Growth Adapted Tensegrity Structures - A New Calculus for the Space Economy Moore, Mark: Eternal Flight as the Solution for 'X'