NASA has selected a number of futuristic technology concepts, which can be used to help humanity spread throughout the solar system and beyond. A total of 17 researchers from nine states will participate in a $5.1 million grant from NASA, allowing them to conduct studies in phases A snapshot of technologies not yet developed.
According to the British newspaper, “Daily Mail”, among the ideas that have been given a share of the funding, spacesuits that can generate oxygen from the atmosphere of Mars, and drones that look like birds that can fly on Venus.
Known as NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, it was launched to nurture ideas that could transform future space missions with entirely new flight concepts.
The techniques could also allow NASA to explore the gas giant’s moons, or look at the atmosphere of an exoplanet.
NASA made it clear that there is no indication of how long it will take for any of these technologies to become a reality, as this is a very early stage of research.
NASA gave an example of one such technology, which involves creating oxygen on Mars by absorbing carbon dioxide, which is being investigated by Arizona State University in Tempe, and incorporating it into spacesuits that are printed on demand.
The customized and cost-effective spacesuits will use digital thread technology, which integrates digital analytical components into the final product.
An astronaut steps into a body scanner and, hours later, walks on the surface of Mars in a custom-made spacesuit, breathing oxygen extracted from the carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere of Mars, in an example provided by NASA.
Another example, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, of an inflatable bird-like drone that flies through the sky, studies the planet’s atmosphere and weather patterns” on Venus.
The latest selection of concepts includes 12 new projects for a Phase 1 study, as well as five Phase 2 awards that will allow the researchers to continue their previous work. The projects are still in the early stages of development and are not considered official NASA missions, just an early investigation of what might happen.
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