{"id":29601,"date":"2023-01-12T13:01:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T13:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/12\/nasa-funds-14-futuristic-space-exploration-concepts-including-a-titan-seaplane\/"},"modified":"2023-01-12T13:01:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T13:01:59","slug":"nasa-funds-14-futuristic-space-exploration-concepts-including-a-titan-seaplane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2023\/01\/12\/nasa-funds-14-futuristic-space-exploration-concepts-including-a-titan-seaplane\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA Funds 14 Futuristic Space Exploration Concepts, Including a Titan Seaplane"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Not long ago, an enormous telescope hovering beyond the moon and peering back to the dawn of the universe would have been science fiction, but the James Webb Space Telescope is out there today doing very real science. The next big advancement in space science has to start somewhere, and the goal of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program is to foster those ideas so they can become tomorrow\u2019s missions. NASA<\/a> just announced the latest round of NIAC awards, including, but not limited to, a seaplane for exploring a Saturnian moon and a giant space laser for faster interplanetary travel.<\/p>\n

The 14 newly designated Phase 1 projects envision technologies that don\u2019t currently exist but are reasonably plausible \u2014 no far-future concepts like warp drives or artificial gravity. For example, there are several notions for next-gen propulsion, like the Pellet-Beam Propulsion system proposed by the University of California. This concept would use a stream of microscopic hypervelocity particles propelled by laser ablation to push a spacecraft to incredible speeds. The proposal says such a system could reach the edge of the solar system in just three or four years.<\/p>\n

The Pellet-Beam system doesn\u2019t have a mechanism to slow down or maneuver once a spacecraft reaches its intended destination. Another team from Seattle\u2019s Positron Dynamics has proposed an engine that could do that, a new type of fission fragment rocket engine (FFRE) that embeds the nuclear fuel in an ultra-low density aerogel matrix. This engine would use the fission products of a nuclear reaction as the propellant, pushing it to the same speeds as Pellet-Beam propulsion.<\/p>\n