• NASA Invests in Two-Dimensional Spacecraft, Reprogrammable Microorganis

    From baalke@1:2320/100 to sci.space.news on Tue Apr 12 23:34:02 2016
    From Newsgroup: sci.space.news

    http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6388

    NASA Invests in Two-Dimensional Spacecraft, Reprogrammable Microorganisms
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    April 12, 2016

    NASA has selected 13 proposals, including four from agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, through NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC), a program that invests in transformative architectures through
    the development of pioneering technologies.

    Among the selected are: a concept for reprogramming microorganisms that
    could use the Martian environment to recycle and print electronics; a two-dimensional spacecraft with ultra-thin subsystems that may wrap around space debris to enable de-orbiting; and a method of computational imaging
    that leverages extrasolar intensity fluctuations to detect "echoes" from planets and other structures orbiting a distant star.

    NIAC Phase I awards are valued at approximately $100,000 for nine months,
    to support initial definition and analysis of their concepts. If these
    basic feasibility studies are successful, awardees can apply for Phase
    II awards, valued up to $500,000 for two additional years of concept development.

    "The latest NIAC selections include a number of concepts for planetary
    and robotic exploration," said Steve Jurczyk, NASA's associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington. "NASA continues
    to value early stage concept studies for our future missions."

    The 2016 portfolio of Phase I concepts cover a wide range of innovations selected for their potential to revolutionize future aerospace missions.
    Such breakthroughs hold the promise of accelerating NASA's progress toward
    its goals of exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, missions to an asteroid
    and Mars, and other priority areas in all of NASA's mission directorates.
    NIAC partners with forward-thinking scientists, engineers and citizen inventors from across the nation to help maintain America's leadership
    in air and space.

    The 2016 Phase I concepts connected with JPL are:

    -- Venus Interior Probe Using In-situ Power and Propulsion (VIP-INSPR), Ratnakumar Bugga
    -- Journey to the Center of Icy Moons, Masahiro Ono
    -- E-Glider: Active Electrostatic Flight for Airless Body Exploration,
    Marco Quadrelli
    -- Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments, Jonathan Sauder

    The other Phase I concepts are:

    -- Light Weight Multifunctional Planetary Probe for Extreme Environment Exploration and Locomotion, Javid Bayandor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
    and State University in Blacksburg
    -- Project RAMA: Reconstituting Asteroids into Mechanical Automata, Jason Dunn, Made In Space, Inc. in Moffett Field, California
    -- Molecular Composition Analysis of Distant Targets, Gary Hughes, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
    -- Brane Craft, Siegfried Janson, The Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles

    -- Stellar Echo Imaging of Exoplanets, Chris Mann, Nanohmics, Inc. in
    Austin, Texas
    -- Mars Molniya Orbit Atmospheric Resource Mining, Robert Mueller, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida
    -- Urban Bio-Mining Meets Printable Electronics: End-To-End At Destination Biological Recycling And Reprinting, Lynn Rothschild, NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California
    -- Fusion-Enabled Pluto Orbiter and Lander, Stephanie Thomas, Princeton Satellite Systems, Inc. in Plainsboro Township, New Jersey
    -- NIMPH - Nano Icy Moons Propellant Harvester, Michael VanWoerkom, ExoTerra Resource, LLC of Littleton, Colorado

    "The 2016 NIAC Phase I competition was fierce, as usual. All of the final candidates were outstanding, and limiting the choice to what fit in our
    budget was difficult," said Jason Derleth, NIAC program executive. "We
    hope each new study will push boundaries and explore new approaches --
    that's what makes NIAC unique."

    NIAC is funded by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, which innovates,

    develops, tests and flies hardware for use in NASA's future missions.
    For more information and a complete list of the selected proposals, and additional information about NIAC, visit:

    http://www.nasa.gov/feature/niac-2016-phase-i-selections

    For more information about NASA's investments in space technology, visit:

    http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech


    News Media Contact

    Gina Anderson
    NASA Headquarters, Washington
    202-358-1160
    gina.n.anderson@nasa.gov

    Elizabeth Landau
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
    818-354-6425
    elizabeth.landau@jpl.nasa.gov

    2016-103

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