February 2019
The Space Elevator – an alternative path to space?
... more efficient. The modern concept of a tensile static space elevator, as described by Pearson [8] and Edwards, NIAC studies [9,10], balances the elevator structure around an equilibrium of acceleration. This can happen in a stationary orbit around...
August 2016
Our changing world and the mounting risk of a calamitous solar storm
... Active Space Radiation Shield for Deep Space Missions” NASA National Innovative Advance Concepts (NIAC) 2011 Supported Study https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/718390main_Tripathi_2011_PhI_Electrostatic_Radiation_Protection.pdf (last accessed March...
August 2020
Interstellar aspirations
.... In 2015 Philip Lubin’s extensive laser light sail study funded by NASA’s Innovative and Advanced Concepts (NIAC) programme, concluded that advances in satellite miniaturisation would soon make it possible to construct a robust spacecraft suitable...
June 2022
Protecting crews in interplanetary ships and space colonies from the space environment
... strong doubts about the possibility of flights to Mars before 2040 The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) in Atlanta, Georgia, has funded a study to find out whether asteroids can be used in protection against radiation. A small...
28 August 2017
Clockwork rover considered for future Venus mission
.... "But with a fully mechanical rover, you might be able to survive as long as a year." Now in its second phase of NIAC development, Saunder and supporting JPL team are selecting parts of the AREE concept to be refined and prototyped...
17 December 2018
Innovative mission to view the surface of exoplanets using small sats
... board at the moment but has been awarded $130,000 from Phase II of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program to help develop the proposal over a two year period. But if the mission got the go ahead...
