NASA has revealed the projects shortlisted for the 2023 Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which supports ideas that aim to transform space travel.
NASA has announced the visionary projects shortlisted for the 2023 batch of its Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which supports ideas that aim to transform space travel and related projects in the near future. The space agency has selected a total of 14 entries during the first phase of its 2023 NIAC fellowship, which bestows a grant worth $175,000 for each project.
Among them is the Lunar South Pole Oxygen Pipeline (L-SPoP), the brainchild of Peter Curreri from Houston-based Lunar Resources. The idea is to build an oxygen pipeline on the moon’s south pole. The initial proposal is to build a pipeline that runs for about three miles, transporting the valuable gas from an extraction site to a storage region like a lunar base. Meanwhile, a cool concept from the University of Florida, called Bimodal NTP/NEP with a Wave Rotor Topping Cycle, is working on a propulsion tech that could move astronauts from Earth to Mars in just 45 days, according to NASA.
