The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC), with
its Phase 1 call for proposals, invites those outside the
agency to submit ideas for revolutionary systems that could
greatly advance NASA’s missions and the Vision for Space
Exploration.
The focus for solicitations is on revolutionary advanced
concepts for architectures and systems that meet NASA mission
“grand challenges.” Since the NIAC wants ideas for future
systems that could be realized 10 to 40 years from now, it is
understood that the enabling technologies may not yet be
available and the science may not yet be completely
understood.
The NIAC’s intention is to discover ideas that may result in
beneficial changes to NASA’s long-range plans. Previous
winning proposals include systems or concepts like a
spacecraft propelled by a magnetized beam of electrified gas
for rapid interplanetary transportation, an electrostatic
radiation shield for a lunar base, and the redesign of living
organisms to survive on Mars.
“NIAC employs a team of experts in science and technology to
review proposals, and successful ones are highly imaginative
but grounded in reality,” said Dr. Robert Cassanova of the
Universities Space Research Association (USRA), the NIAC
director. The USRA runs the NIAC for NASA.
The NIAC sponsors research in two phases. Proposals selected
for Phase 1 awards typically receive up to $75,000 for a six-
month study that validates the viability of the concept and
identifies challenges that must be overcome to make the
proposal a reality.
The results of the Phase 1 studies are evaluated, and the
most promising are selected for further research, through a
Phase 2 award, into the major feasibility issues associated
with cost, performance, development time and technology.
Phase 2 studies can be up to two years long and receive as
much as $400,000.
Proposals are due February 14, 2005, and winners receive up
to $75,000 to complete an initial study of their idea’s
feasibility. Phase 1 awards will be announced in July. The
NIAC awards about a dozen Phase 1 study contracts per year.
The NIAC encourages interested parties to submit their
proposals via the Internet. More information, including
detailed instructions and a proposal package, is available on
the Internet at:
http://www.niac.usra.edu/files/call/CP_05_01/CP_05-01.pdf
More information about the NIAC, including reports on
previously selected proposals, can be found on the Internet
at:
