2004annualreport[2]

NASA INSTITUTE FORADVANCED CONCEPTS

Supporting Revolutionary Ideas Today,

With Advanced Concepts For Tomorrow

7th A N N U A L R E P O R T

Performance Period July 12, 2004 - July 11, 2005

USRA is a non-profit cor-poration under the aus-pices of the NationalAcademy of Sciences,with an institutional mem-bership of 97. For moreinformation about USRA,see its website atwww.usra.edu.

ANSER is a not-for-profitpublic service researchcorporation, serving thenational interest since1958.To learn more aboutANSER, see its website atwww.ANSER.org.

NASA Institute forAdvanced Concepts

7 t h A N N U A L R E P O R T

Performance Period July 12, 2004 - July 11, 2005

4N I A C 7 t h A n n u a l R e p o r t

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Above: NIAC Director, Robert A. Cassanova, Ph. D.

NIAC SUPPORTS THE NASA VISIONNIAC inspires and investigates options forfuture missions that may reveal technologiesand approaches which could impact near termmissions.

5

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D i r e c t o r ’ s M e s s a g e

CCaarrrryyiinngg OOuutt NNAASSAA’’ss VViissiioonn

N I A C 7 t h A n n u a l R e p o r t

Over the last seven contract years, the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC)has inspired and nurtured a number of revolutionary advanced concepts that somedaymay have a significant impact on future directions in aeronautics and space. This isaccomplished by encouraging and creating an operating environment to inspire con-cepts aimed 10 to 40 years into the future for which the enabling technologies may notbe available, and/or the science may not be totally understood. NIAC actively seekscredible, technical controversy supported by an atmosphere of open dialogue with thetechnical community that encourages an examination of key technical issues.

Over the last 100 years the aerospace field has successfully responded to "grand chal-lenges" such as high speed, powered flight and landing a man on the Moon. Theseand other "grand challenges" provide a general direction for problem solving andinspire creative and innovative application of known, or mostly understood, scientificphenomena and technologies.

NIAC's approach is to encourage revolutionary thinking to provide the spark for "grandvisions" for giant leaps forward, stretching our scientific imagination and sustaining anenvironment for credible creativity and innovation. "Grand visions" of the future mayalso affect our interpretation of near-term challenges. A focus on visionary advancedconcepts turns our minds towards possibilities of performance enhancements for cur-rently planned missions and may enable future missions that are currently viewed asnearly impossible.

Some of the NIAC advanced concepts, for example in astronomy, access to space,space transportation and humans in space have inspired other related, supporting sys-tem concepts and enabling technologies which result in an architectural ensemble withextraordinary possibilities. As a result, a number of NIAC advanced concepts havebeen accepted into NASA's long range plans and have received additional funding fromNASA, other government agencies and private investors to continue the developmentof the concepts and related enabling technologies.

NIAC is eager to encourage and receive concepts from a broad spectrum of scientificdisciplines and interdisciplinary fields that are not normally associated with aerospaceendeavors. Please join the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) andNIAC in this exciting endeavor to help define the future of aeronautics and space.

Robert A. Cassanova, Ph.D.Director, NIAC

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

NIAC EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

SummaryCall for Proposals CP 02-01 (Phase II)Call for Proposals CP 03-01 (Phase II)Call for Proposals CP 04-01 (Phase I)Call for Proposals CP 05-01 (Phase I)Call for Proposals CP 05-02 (Phase II)Survey of Technologies to Enable NIAC ConceptsSpecial Recognition for NIACCoordination with NASAInfusion of Advanced Concepts into NASAInspiration and OutreachRelease and Publicity of Calls for ProposalsRecruitment of Technically Diverse Peer ReviewersNIAC Sixth Annual MeetingNIAC Fellows MeetingNIAC Science Council MeetingsNIAC Student Visions of the Future ProgramNIAC Student Fellow PublicationNIAC Student Fellows PrizeFinancial Performance

DESCRIPTION OF THE NIAC

MissionOrganizationFacilitiesVirtual InstituteThe NIAC ProcessSolicitationProposalsPeer ReviewNASA ConcurrenceAwardsManagement of Awards

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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

PLANS FOR THE EIGHTH CONTRACT YEAR

Key MilestonesSolicitation, Selection, and Advanced Concept AwardsIdentifying Grand VisionsNIAC Annual Meeting and Phase I Fellows MeetingOutreach to the Technical CommunityCoordination with NASA and other Federal AgenciesOversight by USRA Management

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Phase I and II Awards Performance PeriodsTable 2. CP 02-01 Phase II Award WinnersTable 3. Summary of CP 03-01 Responding OrganizationsTable 4. CP 03-01 Phase II Award WinnersTable 5. Summary of CP 04-01 Responding OrganizationsTable 6. CP 04-01 Phase I Award WinnersTable 7. Summary of CP 05-01 Responding OrganizationsTable 8. CP 05-01 Phase I Award WinnersTable 9. Summary of CP 05-02 Responding OrganizationsTable 10. CP 05-02 Phase II Award WinnersTable 11. CP 02-01 Critical Enabling TechnologiesTable 12. CP 03-01 Critical Enabling TechnologiesTable 13. NASA - NIAC Support TeamTable 14. Visits and Contacts within NASATable 15. Advanced Concepts Infused Into NASATable 16. Current Membership of the NIAC Science CouncilTable 17. Key Activities Planned for the Eighth Contract Year

APPENDICES

A. Descriptions of Enabling Technologies from NIACB. Infusion Status and RecommendationsC. Inspiration and Outreach ContactsD. NIAC Publicity

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THE NIAC STAFF. Network Engineer, Robert J. Mitchell, (above left), Business Manager,Dale K. Little, (above center), NIAC Director, Dr. Robert Cassanova (above right), AssociateDirector, Diana Jennings, Ph.D., (bottom left) Senior Science Advisor, Ronald E. Turner,Ph.D. (bottom center), Publication Specialist, Katherine Reilly (bottom right)

NIAC is a unique organization and a process where creativity and imagination, inspired by curiosity andthe eternal quest for knowledge, are necessities, not luxuries. NIAC provides a pathway for innovatorswith the ability for non-linear creativity to: (1) define grand visions for a future world of aeronautics and space, (2) explore the possibility of redefining realities of the future, (3) offer revolutionary solutions to the grand challenges of future aerospace endeavors.By operating as a virtual institute with succinct proposal requirements and efficient peer review, NIAC'smode of operation emphasizes a flexible and open development of creative concepts with a minimum oftechnical direction. However, appropriate oversight and nurturing is provided by NIAC's contractual man-agement and technical leadership plus timely collaboration with NASA's technical staff.

During this seventh contract year, NIAC awarded 5 Phase II contracts totaling $2 million (with options),and 24 Phase I grants totaling $1.7 million. Since the beginning of the first NIAC contract, Feb. 1998,NIAC has received a total of 1016 proposals and has awarded 115 Phase I grants and 32 Phase II con-tracts for a total value of $22.5 million. The awards spanned all categories of businesses with 44.2% touniversities, 47% to small and disadvantaged business, 2% to historically black colleges and universitiesand minority institutions and 6.8% to large businesses. During this seventh year of operation, NIAC con-tinued to meet the contract performance goals and, as in previous years, received an "excellent" ratingfrom NASA in all categories of performance.

NIAC's method of open review of its advanced concepts continued this year with a combination of openaccess to reports and briefings on the NIAC website, the NIAC Annual Meeting and the NIAC Phase IFellows Meeting. Recipients of NIAC awards are designated as “NIAC Fellows”. The NIAC AnnualMeeting in October 2004 was especially well attended and included status briefings by Phase II Fellows,notable presentations by invited keynote speakers and presentations by student Fellows.

NIAC's technical leadership continued its vigorous activities for education, outreach and inspiration withpresentations at universities, private industry and technical society meetings. NIAC and NIAC spon-sored advanced concepts received widespread recognition in the popular and technical press. NIACFellows were highly visible in technical society meetings with numerous presentations and publication oftechnical papers.

In addition to inspiring proposals from the established technical community, NIAC began a special pro-gram to encourage undergraduate students who have the potential for extraordinary creativity and theability to stretch well beyond typical undergraduate course work. The NIAC Student Fellows Prize(NSFP), sponsored by Universities Space Research Association and managed by NIAC, was initiated in2005 to attract these students and facilitate their advanced aerospace concepts. Five students wereselected in May 2005 to receive a $9,000 grant and will carry out their efforts during the 2005-2006 aca-demic year.

Highlights for the eighth contract year include the beginning of the development of new Phase I andPhase II concepts, release of new Phase I and Phase II Calls for Proposals, peer review and selectionof new Phase I and Phase II awards, hosting the Annual Meeting in October 2005 and the FellowsMeeting in March 2006, participation in a special broadcast on Space Exploration through Georgia PublicTelevision for the MIT Forum and selection of the next group of NIAC Student Fellows.

9

NIAC Executive Summary


SummaryDuring the seventh contract year of operation, NIAC has continued the processes that it success-fully established to inspire, solicit, review, select, fund, nurture, and infuse revolutionary advancedconcepts into NASA. The performance periods for all completed and currently planned awardsare summarized in Table 1. The following sections describe the Calls that were awarded or initi-ated during the past year.

Call for Proposals CP 02-01 (Phase II)

During this reporting period, these concepts (see Table 2) were in their second and final year ofcontract performance. Descriptions of these concepts are available on the NIAC web site(http://www.niac.usra.edu).

TABLE 2. CP 02-01 Phase II Award Winners10

Principal Investigator & Organization CP 02-01 Concept Proposal Title

ANTHONY COLOZZAOhio Aerospace Institute

Solid State Aircraft

STEVEN HOWEHbar Technologies

Antimatter Driven Sail for Deep Space Missions

JOHN MANOBIANCOENSCO, Inc.

Global Environmental MEMS Sensors (GEMS): ARevolutionary Observing System for the 21st Century

DAVA NEWMANMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Astronaut Bio-Suit System for Exploration ClassMissions

RAY SEDWICKMassachusetts Institute of Technology Electromagnetic Formation Flight (EMFF)

PARVIZ SOROUSHIANTechnova Corporation Inherently Adaptive Structural Systems

A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S

Jan-DecJan-DecJan-DecJan-DecJan-Dec

CY04 CY05 CY06CY03CY02

TABLE 1. Phase I and II Awards Performance Periods

First USRAContract Ends

February 11

CompletedCompleted

Completed

0401

0101

0102

0201

0202

0301

CP 01-01 Phase II ContractsCP 01-02 Phase I GrantsCP 02-01 Phase II ContractsCP 02-02 Phase I GrantsCP 03-01 Phase II ContractsCP 04-01 Phase I GrantsCP 05-01 Phase I GrantsCP 05-02 Phase II Contracts

CP 01-01 Phase II ContractsCP 01-02 Phase I GrantsCP 02-01 Phase II ContractsCP 02-02 Phase I GrantsCP 03-01 Phase II ContractsCP 04-01 Phase I GrantsCP 05-01 Phase I GrantsCP 05-02 Phase II Contracts

CY05 CY06

Jan-DecJan-Dec

0501

0502

Completed

Second USRAContract Ends

July 17

TABLE 1. Phase I and II Awards Performance Periods

Call for Proposals CP 03-01 (Phase II) CP 03-01, a NIAC Phase II solicitation, was released on December 10, 2003. Under a new NIACpolicy, it was released to Phase I winners who had not previously been awarded a Phase II con-tract and had not submitted a Phase II proposal for the same concept more than twice. Therespective business categories distribution of the 14 proposals received on April 30, 2004 aresummarized in Table 3.

TABLE 3. Summary of CP 03-01 Responding Organizations

Five awards, as reflected in Table 4 were made at the conclusion of Peer Review and theConcurrence Briefing (June 25, 2004). The contract start date for these awards was August 1,2004. The proposals that were selected for award under CP 03-01 are summarized in Table 4and descriptions of these concepts are available on the NIAC Web site(http://www.niac.usra.edu).

TABLE 4. CP 03-01 Phase II Award Winners

Principal Investigator & Organization CP 03-01 Concept Proposal Title

NARAYANAN KOMERATHGeorgia Institute of Technology

Tailored Force Fields for Space-BasedConstruction

CONSTANTINOS MAVROIDISNortheastern University Bio-Nano-Machines for Space Applications

ALEXEY PANKINE Global Aerospace Corporation

Sailing the Planets: Science from DirectedAerial Robot Explorers

JOHN SLOUGHUniversity of Washington The Plasma Magnet

PAUL TODDSpace Hardware Optimization Technology Robotic Lunar Ecopoiesis Test Bed

Business Category Proposals Received Awarded

Universities 7 3

Small Businesses 6 2Large Businesses 1 0

Total Proposals Received for CP 03-01 14 5

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Call for Proposals CP 04-01 (Phase I)

Phase I solicitation, CP 04-01, was released on April 2, 2004 with a proposal due date of June 7,2004. On this date, 113 proposals were received and the applicable statistics pertaining to typeof submitting organization are summarized in Table 5.


A total of 12 awards were made from the 113 proposals received in response to CP 04-01. Theapplicable concurrence briefing to NASA was made on August 19, 2004 with the award date forthe 12 being October 1, 2004. The proposals that were selected for award under CP 04-01 aresummarized in Table 6 and abstracts are available on the NIAC Web site (http://www.niac.usra.edu).

TABLE 6. CP 04-01 Phase I Award Winners (continued on next page)


Universities 35 7Small Disadvantaged Businesses 12 1

Small Businesses 64 4

National Labs 1 0Large Businesses 1 0


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Principal Investigator &Organization CP 04-01 Concept Proposal Title

ROGER ANGELUniversity of Arizona

A Deep Field Infrared Observatory Near theLunar Pole

IVAN BEKEYBekey Designs Incorporated

Extremely Large Swarm Array of Picosats forMicrowave/RF Earth Sensing, Radiometry, andMapping

WENDY BOSS North Carolina State University

Redesigning Living Organisms to Survive onMars

CHARLES BUHLERASRC Aerospace Corporation

Analysis of a Lunar Base Electrostatic RadiationShield Concept

WEBSTER CASHUniversity of Colorado New Worlds Imager

RICHARD FORKUniversity of Alabama, Huntsville

Efficient Direct Conversion of Sunlight toCoherent Light at High Average Power in Space

TABLE 6. CP 04-01 Phase I Award Winners (continued from previous page)

Call for Proposals CP 05-01 (Phase I)

November 12, 2004 was the release date for Phase I CP 05-01. The corresponding due datewas February 14, 2005 at which time NIAC received 158 proposals and the peer review processbegan. A Concurrence Briefing was given to NASA on May 12, 2005 followed by the award of 12grants to begin on September 1, 2005.


JEFFREY HOFFMANMassachussetts Institute ofTechnology

Use of Superconducting Magnet Technology forAstronaut Radiation Protection

RICKY MORGANAerospace Missions Corporation

Wide Bandwidth Deep Space QuantumCommunications

JEROME PEARSONStar Technology and Research

Lunar Space Elevators for Cislunar SpaceDevelopment

CHRIS PHOENIXCenter for ResponsibleNanotechnology

Large-Product General-Purpose Design andManufacturing Using Nanoscale Modules

ROBERT WINGLEEUniversity of Washington

Magnetized Beamed Plasma Propulsion(MagBeam)

CRAIG WOOLSEYVirginia Polytechnic Institute

A Self-Sustaining, Boundary-Layer-AdaptedSystem for Terrain Exploration andEnvironmental Sampling

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Universities 56 3Small Disadvantaged Businesses 12 3

Small Businesses 86 6

National Labs 1 0Large Businesses 3 0

Total Proposals Received for CP 05-01 158 12TABLE 7. Summary of CP 05-01 Responding Organizations

The proposals that were selected for award under CP 05-01 are summarized in Table 8 andabstracts are available on the NIAC Web site (http://www.niac.usra.edu).

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YOUNG K. BAEBae Institute

A Contamination-Free Ultrahigh Precision Formation FlightMethod Based On Intracavity Photon Thrusters andTethers

JAMES BICKFORDDraper Laboratory

Extraction of Anitparticles Concentrated in PlanetaryMagnetic Fields

ERIC BONABEAU Icosystem Corporation

Customizable, Reprogrammable, Food Preparation,Production and Invention System

BRIAN GILCHRISTUniversity of Michigan

Scalable Flat-Panel Nano-Particle MEMS/NEMSPropulsion Technology for Space Exploration

GERALD P. JACKSONHbar Technologies, LLC Antimatter Harvesting in Space

GEORGE MAISEPlus Ultra Technologies, Inc.

Multi-Mice: A Network of Interactive Nuclear Cryoprobesto Explore Ice Sheets on Mars and Europa

PAMELA A. MENGESAerospace Research Systems Artificial Neural Membrane Flapping Wing

MASON PECKCornell University College ofEngineering

Lorentz-Actuated Orbits: Electrodynamic PropulsionWithout a Tether

JAMES POWELLPlus Ultra Technologies

Magnetically Inflated Cable (MIC) System for SpaceApplications

HERBERT SCHNOPPERSmithsonian AstrophysicalObservatory

Ultra-High Resolution Fourier Transform X-RayInterferometer

GERALD A. SMITHPositronics Research LLC

Positron Propelled and Powered Space Transport Vehiclefor Planetary Missions

NESTOR VORONKATethers Unlimited

Modular Spacecraft with Integrated StructuralElectrodynamic Propulsion

TABLE 8. CP 05-01 Phase I Award Winners

Call for Proposals CP 05-02 (Phase II)

Phase II CP 05-02 was released on November 10, 2004 with a proposal due date of May 2, 2005.On this date, 15 proposals were received. The applicable statistics pertaining to type of submit-ting organization and award recipients are summarized in Table 9 and 10, respectively. Abstractsare available on the NIAC website (htttp://www.niac.usra.edu). Awards are planned forSeptember 1, 2005.

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Universities 10 5Small Disadvantaged Businesses 2

Small Businesses 2Large Businesses 1




WENDY BOSSNorth Carolina State University Redesigning Living Organisms for Mars

WEBSTER CASHUniversity of Colorado, Boulder New Worlds Imager

STEVEN DUBOWSKYMassachusetts Institute ofTechnology

Microbots for Large-Scale Planetary Surface andSubsurface Exploration

ELIZABETH McCORMACKBryn Mawr College

Investigation of the Feasibility of Laser TrappedMirrors

SIMON WORDENSteward Observatory, Universityof Arizona

A Deep Field Infrared Observatory near theLunar Pole

TABLE 10. CP 05-02 Phase II Award Winners

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Survey of Technologies to Enable NIAC Concepts

Beginning with the fifth Annual Report that covered the contract performance period ending in July2003, NIAC has surveyed the critical enabling technologies for the NIAC Phase II concepts. The

purpose of this survey is to provideNASA with inputs to their invest-ment strategy for advanced tech-nologies that would enable furtherdevelopment of the NIAC conceptand provide additional justificationfor general categories of advancedtechnologies that may enable abroad range of future missions.

Two sets of Phase II contracts wereactively funded during this contractyear. Six CP 02-01 studies were intheir second year (performanceperiod from September 2003through August 2005), and five CP03-01 advanced concepts were intheir first year (performance periodfrom October 2004 throughSeptember 2006). Each of thesePhase II Fellows was asked torespond to the following questionsrelated to critical technologies toenable their concept:

(1) What are the three most criticaltechnologies to enable the furtherdevelopment of your NIAC con-cept? Please give a brief explana-tion, two or three sentences,describing the critical relationship ofeach technology to your concept.(2) What are the other technologiesthat are important for the furtherdevelopment of your concept?Please briefly describe their rela-tionship to your concept.

The eleven responses are com-pletely reported in Appendix A alongwith short explanations of the rela-tionship of each technology to theadvanced system or architecture(Tables 11 and 12).

CP 02-01 Critical Enabling Technologies

Ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC)

Thin film photovoltaic arrayFlexible batteries or capacitorsFlapping wing aerodynamicsIPMC control scheme / EM field generation

Production/formation of antihydrogen

Formation & storage of nano-flakes of solid antihydrogenTuned photovoltaic conversion of fission energy into elec-tricityProduction and accumulation of antiprotonsIntegration and miniaturization of electronics

Advanced distributed communicationsLightweight high strength materials (e.g. carbon nan-otube based polymers)Advanced thin-film solar cell technology

Thin-film batteries or thin-film capacitors

Three-dimensional textile deposition, to enable the for-mation of anisotropic material with specific mechanicalpropertiesShape-changing polymers that provide human-scaleforceInformation technology, wearable computing, energy, andhuman power harvesting integration across the entireEVA systemHigh current density, high temperature super conductingwireHigher efficiency cryo-coolersDistributed control algorithmsHigh density, high strength, non-conducting materialsfrom which reaction wheels can be manufacturedDevelopment of nanostructured piezoelectricmaterials

Advances in development of solid electrolytes for energystorage

Developments in ion-conducting nanocomposites TABLE 11. CP 02-01 CriticalEnabling Technologies

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CP 03-01 Critical Enabling Technologies

Large-scale direct conversion of solar energy to tunable radio and microwavefrequencies

Intelligent robotic manipulators

On-orbit tele-robotics for assembly

Beamed microwave power Network-based space sensing for planetary environmentsSmart self repairing / healing artificial skin architectureAdvanced bio-nano-components such as actuators, joints, sensors, etc.

Distributive intelligence for programming and control

Bio-nano-world to macro-world integration

Automatic fabrication of bio-nano-robotsAdvanced balloon envelope materialsLightweight balloon guidance systemGuidance and navigation algorithm developmentReliable and robust entry descent and inflation systemsAdvancements in energy storage and power generation technologiesHigh efficiency fuel cells, high-efficiency thin-film solar arrays, and lightweight photo-voltaic devices Advanced technology structural materials with high strength-to-weight ratios, e.g. car-bon nanotubes

Advanced power processing unit

Solar wind detection system

Advanced guidance systems

Pioneer organisms

Laboratory ecopoiesis test bed

Efficient and safe miniaturized simulated planetary environments

Access to extraterrestrial venues

Novel laboratory information networks

Microbial health assessment

TABLE 12. CP 03-01 Critical Enabling Technologies

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Special Recognition for NIAC

On August 24, 2004, the USRA/ANSER-NASA NIAC team received the NASAGroup Achievement Award. The ceremonywas held at Martin’s Crosswinds inGreenbelt, Maryland. The award wasaccepted for the group by BobCassanova. Plaques have been awardedto each of the members. The photo belowshows Sharon Garrison, Bob Cassanovaand Sophia Hill (USRA ContractSpecialist) after the awards ceremony.

The USRA/ANSER-NASA NIAC Team's recent NASA Honor Award was also recognized in theOctober 2004 Goddard News. The article was entitled "NIAC Team Wins Award for Six-Year Walkon the Wild Side". Bill Steigerwald, of the GSFC Public Affairs Office, described NIAC and theNASA Honor Award the NASA government and non-government NIAC team received in August2004. See the Publicity section for the link to the article.

Coordination with NASA

Sharon Garrison (left), the NASA Coordinator for NIAC, is in theAdvanced Concepts and Technology Office (ACTO) of the FlightProgram and Projects Directorate at NASA Goddard Space FlightCenter (GSFC). She is the primary point-of-contact between NIACand NASA. Ms. Garrison actively communicates throughoutNASA to a review team comprised of representatives from theMission Directorates and Centers. Table 13 is a listing of theserepresentatives. Throughout the process of managing NIAC,these representatives are kept informed by Ms. Garrison of the

status of the Institute and are appropriately involved in decisions and feedback. NIAC providesmonthly contract status reports and an annual report to the NASA Coordinator who forwardsthese reports to the support team and others within NASA.

On April 21, 2005, Sharon Garrison was notified by Admiral Craig Steidle, Associate Administratorfor Exploration, that the Exploration Systems Research and Technology Development Team willreceive the NASA Group Achievement Award. Ms. Garrison is a member of this team.

Sharon Garrison(left), BobCassanova (cen-ter) and Sophia Hill(left, USRAContract Specialist)receive theUSRA/ANSER-NASA NIACTeam's recentNASA HonorAward

19

TABLE 13. NASA-NIAC Support Team

Throughout this NIAC contract, the NIAC Directorbriefed the associate administrators and othersenior technical staff at NASA Headquarters andthe directors of NASA Centers. The purpose ofthese briefings is to facilitate the eventual transi-tion of NIAC advanced concepts into NASA longrange plans, to inform them about the plans forNIAC, and to seek their active support and feed-back. Yearly, NASA was requested to providevisionary, grand challenges for use in future NIACCalls for Proposals. In addition, NASA technicalstaff presented overviews of related NASAadvanced concept activities to the NIAC Director.NIAC also participates in student programs spon-sored through the NASA Centers.

NASA COTR NASAHeadquarters

NASA MissionDirectorates NASA Centers

Sharon Garrison John Mankins

Space Operations:Stanley Fishkind

Aeronautics:Murray Hirschbein

Science:Harley ThronsonLou ShusterGordon Johnston

Exploration Systems:Chris Moore

Human Health andPerformance:

Gale AllenStephen Davison

ARC: Larry LasherDFRC: Steve WhitmoreGRC: Daniel GloverGSFC: Lisa Callahan

...JPL: Neville MarzwellJSC: Al Conde

...KSC: Robert Youngquist LaRC: Dennis Bushnell

...MSFC: John Cole SSC: Bill St. Cyr

In July 2004, NIAC Director, Bob Cassanova (farleft) visited with 20 NASA Academy Students atthe University of Maryland.

SEMINARNASA Academy

15July2004

Bob Cassanova and Sharon Garrison presented a semi-nar to 20 NASA Academy Students on the campus of theUniversity of Maryland.

NIAC INFORMATIONREQUEST

NASA Headquarters

August2004

Bob Cassanova received an inquiry from Cheryl Yuhas atNASA HQ for information on NIAC funded concepts relat-ed to unmanned aerial vehicles for gather EarthSciences data. He sent information related to the follow-ing NIAC funded concepts: "Solid State Aircraft" byAnthony Colozza, "Directed Aerial Robot Explorers" byAlexey Pankine, "A Self-Sustaining, Boundary-Layer-Adapted System for Terrain Exploration-andEnvironmental Sampling" by Craig Woolsey.

Table 14. Visits and Contacts within NASA (continued on next page)

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BRIEFINGNASA Headquarters

13September

2004

Bob Cassanova, Ron Turner and Sharon Garrison met inNASA HQ with Mary Kicza, Bernie Seery (by conferencecall), Gary Martin, Karen Blynn, Craig Cornelius, andRich Doyle (by conference call) regarding theCommission's Report to NASA to create a DARPA-likeentity at NASA for which NIAC can serve as a model.

INPUTNASA Technology

Inventory Database

17September

2004

Inputs to the NASA Technology Inventory Database ofthe most recent NIAC awards for advanced conceptswere completed by Dale Little, Bob Cassanova andSharon Garrison.

SYMPOSIUMLive Broadcast On

NASA TV Hosted ByAdministratorSean O’Keefe

27-28September

2004

Dr. Penny Boston, NIAC Phase II Fellow, was one of theparticipants in the symposium, "Risk and Exploration:Earth, Sea and the Stars," that was carried live on NASATV and webcast on www.nasa.gov from the NavalPostgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. During this spe-cial symposium hosted by Administrator Sean O'Keefe,NASA examined the similarities between space explo-ration and other terrestrial expeditions with the help ofsome of the best known explorers in the world, includingmountain climbers, deep sea explorers, scientists andscience fiction writers. The discussions also includedNASA astronauts, other notable aeronautics and deepspace explorers.

PRESS RELEASENASA Headquarters

GSFC

28September

2004

NASA Headquarters issued a Press Release entitled,“NASA Explores Future Space with Advanced ConceptsAwards”. The release was submitted to NASA HQ by BillSteigerwald of the GSFC Public Affairs Office. The link tothe release: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/sep HQ_04315_niac.html

MEETING WITHMAYRA MONTROSE

NASA HQ

12May2005

Bob Cassanova, Diana Jennings and Ron Turner metwith Mayra Montrose to discuss NIAC contributions to the"21st Century Explorer" project which is a public outreachprogram aimed at the Hispanic community near NASAJSC. NIAC provided concept descriptions and graphicswhich will be integrated into the publications and displaysfor the project.

CONCURRENCEBRIEFINGNASA HQ

12May2005

The concurrence briefing for CP 05-01 was held at NASAHQ. As a result of the peer review and concurrenceprocess, twelve concepts were selected to receive anaward.

TABLE 14. Visits and Contacts within NASA (continued on next page)

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MEETING WITHCHRIS MOORE

NASA HQ

12May2005

Bob Cassanova, Sharon Garrison, Diana Jennings andRon Turner met with Chris Moore to discuss the processof infusion of NIAC concepts into NASA.

PHASE I PROJECTDESCRIPTIONSInternal Briefing

NASA HQ

6June2005

Bob Cassanova and Kathy Reilly provided a two pagePowerpoint summary of the new Phase I awards to ChrisMoore for use in an internal briefing at NASA HQ.

TABLE 14. Visits and Contacts within NASA (continued from previous page)

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Infusion of Advanced Concepts into NASA

Infusion Of Advanced Concepts Into NASA

One of the contract performance metrics that is included in the USRA contract with NASA is that5 - 10% of the selected concepts are infused into NASA's long range plans. After a concept hasbeen developed and nurtured through the NIAC process, it is NASA's intent that the most prom-ising concepts will be transitioned into its program for additional study and follow-on funding.NIAC has taken a proactive approach to this infusion process. In addition to the routine activitiesto maintain public awareness and visibility for all its funded advanced concepts, NIAC orches-trates the following activities:

- Conducts status and visibility briefings with NASA researchers and managers;- Provides names of key NASA contacts to NIAC Phase I and Phase II Fellows;- From the beginning of the Phase II Call for Proposals, NIAC connects Fellows with

NASA to provide synergy and optimal program consideration for future follow-on funding by NASA;

- Invites NASA leaders to Phase II site visits to participate in status and planning discussions;- Encourages NIAC Fellows to publish their work in technical society meetings and technical

journals;- Supports NIAC Fellows to gain NASA testing/evaluation with NASA facilities key to advanced

concept verification;- Presents technical briefings to other government agencies such as the Department of

Defense and the National Reconnaissance Office to generate awareness of NIACconcepts applicable to their missions;

- Extends invitations to key technical leaders in non-NASA agencies and private industry toget keynote addresses at NIAC meetings which create opportunities for NIAC Fellows tointeract with these organizations.

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CONCEPT INVESTIGATOR STATUS

Astronaut Bio-Suit forExploration Class Missions Dava Newman

The NIAC Phase II contract will be com-pleted August 31, 2005. An additional$250K has been allocated by NASA HQ tocontinue the development for an addition-al 12 months.

The Space Elevator BradleyEdwards

The Space Elevator has received $2.5M incongressional directed funding after thecompletion of the NIAC Phase II contract.In addition, Dr. Edwards has formed a newcompany, Carbon Nanotechnology (CNT),which has received several million fromprivate investors to continue the develop-ment of carbon nanotube materials. CNTalso signed a cooperative agreement withLos Alamos National Lab for continueddevelopment of the Space elevator.

Moon and Mars OrbitingSpinning Tether Transport Robert Hoyt

Since the NIAC Phase II contract wascompleted, Tethers Unlimited, Inc. hasreceived several competitive SBIR awardsin excess of $2 million to continue thedevelopment.

The Mini-MagnetosphericPlasma Propulsion System,M2P2

Robert Winglee

The M2P2 was included in the NASADecadel Plan. The M2P2 was funded byMSFC to continue experiments confirmingcomputer models. Robert Winglee andJohn Slough have received $700K fromthe NASA STTR program to continue thedevelopment of a high powered heliconcomponent. Contact has been estab-lished with the JSC VASIMR program toexplore collaboration.

X-Ray Interferometer Webster Cash

The NIAC sponsored X-Ray Inter-ferometer helped crystallize the MAXIMprogram, the Micro Arc second X-rayImaging Mission, within the planning atNASA. MAXIM is now a "Vision Mission"for the future. Maxim Pathfinder, a step-ping stone at 100 mas is a mid-term mis-sion.

Global Constellation ofStratospheric ScientificPlatforms

Kerry Nock

RASC funded a $200K study with GAC onballoon constellations. Ultra-long durationballoons and balloon constellations arenow begin considered as platforms forEarth Sciences missions. GAC gave aninvited seminar at NRO on balloon con-stellations.

Table 15. Advanced Concepts Infused Into NASA (continued on next page)

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As a natural consequence of NIAC's open, semi-annual meetings and the posting of advanced con-cept final reports on the NIAC website, other U.S. government agencies have actively pursued contactwith selected NIAC Fellows.

Some of these contacts have resulted in these non-NASA agencies providing funding directly to theNIAC Fellow to continue the development of the concept. As a result, NASA benefits by leveraging thetechnical and financial resources of other aerospace-related government agencies.

NASA also has a proactive approach to considering NIAC concepts for further study. The NIACDirector and the NASA COTR, Sharon Garrison, collaborate to generate periodic reports on the sta-tus of infusion with a particular emphasis on concepts that have a high probability of successful devel-opment and should be actively considered by NASA. An example of this infusion report is containedin Appendix B.

By the end of this contract year, the concepts listed in Table 15 have successfully begun the processof transitioning into NASA, or other government agencies, as evidenced by the receipt of additionalfunding from NASA or other agencies, or by being specifically noted in NASA long range plans.

CONCEPT INVESTIGATOR STATUS

Very Large Optics for the Studyof Extrasolar Terrestrial Planets Neville Woolf

This concept is directly associated with the"Life Finder" that is specifically mentionedin the NASA Science long range plan.Additional funding was received from theNational Reconnaissance Office for con-tinued development of light-weight opticalcomponents.

Entomopter for Mars AnthonyColozza

The investigator, Anthony Colozza, hasbeen contacted by DoD to explore possi-bilities of continuation funding.

Electromagnetic FormationFlight (EMFF)

RaymondSedwick andDavid Miller

The National Reconnaissance Office isnow exploring possibilities for continuationof funding.

Solid State Aircraft AnthonyColozza

The investigator, Anthony Colozza, hasbeen contacted by DoD to explore possi-bilities of continuation of funding.

The Plasma Magnet John Slough

The contract with U. of Washington isapproaching the midpoint. A site visit isscheduled in August 2005. AppropriateNASA personnel will be invited to the sitevisit to participate in a discussion of thetheoretical and experimental results of theplasma sail development. John Sloughand Robert Winglee have received $700Kfrom the NASA STTR program to continuethe development of a high powered heli-con component Contact has been estab-lished with the JSC VASIMR program toexplore collaboration.

Table 15. Advanced Concepts Infused Into NASA (continued from previous page)

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Inspiration and OutreachThe NIAC strives to welcome innovators of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the processof expanding our future possibilities. Inspiring these communities is a continual activity of the NIACwith consistent, active contact with technical communities, the educational community and thepublic at large. The NIAC maintains a high degree of connectivity with a diverse cross-section ofinnovative researchers in established and emerging technical disciplines. Appendix C provides alisting of the inspiration and outreach activities conducted during the seventh contract year of oper-ation.

General outreach is accomplished in many ways, for example, through the NIAC website and dis-tribution of NIAC brochures and posters. NIAC Annual Meetings and Fellows Meetings are opento all.

NIAC staff and Fellows are vocal advocates of advanced concepts within the educational audi-ence. Some NIAC Fellows actively engage students in classwork aimed at the development ofadvanced concepts or participate in outreach activities within their home organizations. NIAC stafffrequently speak at schools, museums, and to student groups.

Frequently, NASA and other organizations turn to NIAC for content related to math, science andengineering education. For example, NIAC staff and the NASA Coordinator are working with NASAto provide input for a new educational outreach program, 21st Century Explorers. Also, in 2005 thework of NIAC Fellows was featured on the Futures Channel, a well-known developer of education-al materials.

The accomplishments of NIAC Fellows create a near-constant demand for information. Pressreleases, often orchestrated through talented NASA staff, capture the attention of press outletsaround the world. NIAC staff are consistently available for public comment and as resources for abroad array of publications, radio and television programming, acting too as a conduit for themedia to directly interface with NIAC Fellows. During the seventh year of contract operation, thework of the NIAC was featured in numerous highly visible publications, including DiscoverMagazine, The Washington Post, Scientific American, Wired, and The Christian Science Monitor.The World Wide Web also carried numerous stories for NIAC fellows on popular sites such asABCnews.com, Space.com and CNN.com.

NIAC maintains an open line of communication with leaders in the global technical communitythrough the NIAC web site and participation in national and international technical society meet-ings through the presentation of technical papers and use of NIAC display booths (e.g., AmericanPhysical Society). The NIAC leadership also provides advocacy by orchestrating vigorous dia-logue about revolutionary concepts through active participation in appropriate technical societies(American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the International Astronautical Federation andthe American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology) and in technical committees affiliatedwith these societies. NIAC actively pursues exposure with aerospace industry associationsthrough presentations, often as an invited participant, to these organizations. The NIAC leadershipand NIAC Fellows also present invited seminars at universities, non-NASA research agencies andnon-aerospace industry associations and non-aerospace industries, such as BellSouth. The NIACannual meeting, the annual NIAC Phase I Fellows meeting and focused NIAC workshops provideopportunities for open analysis and advocacy of currently funded advanced concepts as well asan unbiased and open-minded examination of revolutionary concepts and enabling technologies.

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SPECIAL APPOINTMENT OF SENIOR SCIENCE ADVISORNational Research Council (NRC) PanelNIAC Senior Science Advisor, Ron Turner, was appointed chairman of theNRC's Panel D: Human Health and Support Systems which is part of theNRC's review of the NASA capability roadmap. He was named as a mem-ber of the NRC panel for review of the NASA Space Flight System StrategyRoadmap.

The leadership of NIAC, including the Director, Associate Director and Senior Science Advisor,promote revolutionary, advanced concepts through participation, primarily by invitation, on steer-ing and oversight committees organized by NASA and other civilian agencies, Department ofDefense, National Academy of Sciences, and National Research Council committees. This keyactivity continues to provide open examination and expansion of the NIAC process for advocacy,analysis and definition of advanced concepts. NIAC regularly interfaces with other U.S. researchagencies to (1) stay informed about technology breakthroughs developed by these agencies; (2)encourage feedback to NIAC Fellows from a diverse constituency of research organizations; (3)explore the potential for supplemental funding for NIAC advanced concepts; and (4) establishlinks with the community of researchers funded by these agencies.

Release and Publicity of Calls for ProposalsThere are various methods used to release and publicize the NIAC Phase I Calls for Proposals.Some of the ways that NIAC solicits Calls to the community are as follows:

Notices are sent to the NIAC email distribution list, generatedfrom responses by individuals who signed up on the NIACweb site to receive the Call; Announcements on professionalsociety web sites or newsletters (American Institute forAeronautics and Astronautics, American Astronautical Society,the American Astronomical Society and the American Societyof Gravitational & Space Biology); Announcements on theUSRA and NIAC web sites; Web links from NASA EnterprisesWeb pages; Web link from the NASA Coordinator’s Webpage; Announcements to a distribution list for HistoricallyBlack Colleges & Universities (HBCU), minority institutions(MI) and small disadvantaged businesses (SDB) provided byNASA; Distribution of announcements to an Earth Scienceslist provided by NASA GSFC; Announcements distributed attechnical society meetings, Distribution of NSVFPAnnouncement through the Space Grant College Directorsand the USRA Council of Institutions. Since Phase II awardsare based on a down-select from Phase I winners, all PhaseII Calls for Proposals are emailed directly to past Phase I win-ners who have not previously received a Phase II contract. Inaddition to the ongoing publicity through the NIAC web site,NIAC activities have been the subject of numerous articles innational and international publications and press specificallyciting NIAC activities during the seventh contract year.

Publications FeaturingArticles about NIAC

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The NIAC brochure (above) has beenwidely distributed within NASA, othergovernment agencies, technical soci-eties, universities and science-orientedpublic.

The NIAC poster (above) hasbecome a useful tool forsoliciting and increasingNIAC's visibility. It is distrib-uted by the NIAC staff atnumerous meetings, work-shops, seminars and confer-ences.

A 6 foot x 8 foot NIAC exhibit and booth (above) is another useful tool forincreasing NIAC’s visibility at various national scientific meetings.

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Recruitment of Technically Diverse Peer ReviewersThe NIAC leadership has developed an efficient and proven method for identifying and selectingthe most qualified and appropriate external review panel members to evaluate proposals submit-ted to the Institute. NIAC has continuously recruited experts across a broad cross-section of tech-nical expertise and a total of 269 individuals have been used, thus far, for peer review. In orderto ensure a continuous refreshment of the available expertise representing newly emerging tech-nologies within the scientific community, the NIAC leadership continually recruits additionalreviewers for each new peer review cycle. NIAC peer reviewers recruited by USRA include sen-ior research executives in private industry, senior research faculty in universities, specializedresearchers in both industry and universities, and aerospace consultants.

One significant resource that the Institute has employed successfully and will continue to exploitis the personal knowledge of the NIAC Director, Associate Director, and Senior Science Advisorof many qualified experts in a wide variety of fields related to NIAC. Some of these experts havea prior association with NIAC, some served previously as NIAC reviewers, and some participat-ed in one of the Grand Challenges workshops. Others may have been suggested by NIACScience Council members. An additional resource of qualified peer reviewers can be found in theauthors of publications cited in the proposals to be reviewed. These researchers often representthe forefront of knowledge in a specific, emerging technology directly relevant to the proposedstudy.

NIAC Sixth Annual MeetingThe 6th Annual Meeting of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts was held on October 19-20, 2004 at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle, Washington. The meeting was attended by approximate-ly 118 people including NIAC Phase I and Phase II Fellows, NASA representatives, USRA man-agement, news media, members of the NIAC Science Council, members of the technical commu-nity and the NIAC/ANSER leadership team. There were two keynote speakers: Paul Spudis, fromthe Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab spoke on “The New Presidential Space Vision” andRobert Hoyt from Tethers Unlimited spoke on “Space Tethers: Lessons for DevelopingRevolutionary Technologies”. There were eleven Phase II concept status reports, four NIAC stu-dent Fellow briefings, twelve Phase I concept posters and six NIAC student posters. All presen-tations have been posted on the NIAC website. The Futures Channel taped interviews withSharon Garrison, Bob Cassanova and select NIAC Fellows. The program is available at TheFutures Channel online.

Bob Cassanova presented his opening remarks (left). NIAC Annual Meeting attendees in the lecturehall (center); Luncheon at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle, Washington (right).

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The NIAC Science Council viewed all of the studentposters (see photo at left), discussed each studentadvanced concept with the author and selected theconcept developed by Andrew Bingham ofClarkson College for a presentation at the followingNIAC Phase I Fellows meeting in March 2005. Thetitle of his concept is “Deployment of an InterstellarElectromagnetic Acceleration System”.

NIAC Fellows Meeting The NIAC Phase I Fellows Meeting was held at the Technology Square Research Building inAtlanta, Georgia on March 15 - 16, 2005. All current Phase I Fellows presented a status briefingon their advanced concepts. All presentations, attendance list, and the agenda are accessible viathe NIAC website at http://www.niac.usra.edu. Special insight was provided through the presen-tations of the following keynote speakers:

- Richard Wassersug, Dalhousie University - “What Do We Really Know About How AnimalsDevelop and Behave in Weightlessness?”

- Joel Achenbach, Washington Post - ”Whatever Happened to the Space Age?” - Chris Moore, NASA HQ - “Overview of NASA's Space Technology Program”

NIAC Science Council MeetingsThe NIAC Science Council met with the NIAC leadership, USRA management and the NASACOTR immediately following the October 2004 Annual Meeting and the March 2005 FellowsMeeting. The Council meetings began with an informal dinner after the adjournment of the NIACmeetings and continued on the next day. The NIAC technical leadership (Director, AssociateDirector and Senior Science Advisor) presented a status report of all NIAC activities since the lastCouncil meeting and discussed the plans for the next 12 months. The meetings concluded withthe Council giving a summary of their observations and recommendations.

NASA COTR, SharonGarrison (left) speaks

with NIAC Fellow, RobertWinglee (right)

NIAC Fellows Meeting attendeesin an informal discussion session

Illustration byFellows Meetingattendee, stu-dent Shahla

Abdi, age 16.

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The NIAC Science Council met on October 20, 2004 at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle, Washington.

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NIAC Student Visions of the Future Program (NSVFP)Beginning with the sixth and into the seventh year of contract operation, USRA sponsored theNIAC Student Visions of the Future Program (NSVFP) which inspired undergraduate students touse their imagination and creativity to develop advanced concepts. The essential structure wasas follows. In response to highly publicized Calls for Proposals, individual students or multi-dis-ciplinary groups of students, overseen by a faculty advisor, developed proposals addressingspace-related advanced concepts with timeframes decades into the future. Selected students orteams were designated as "NIAC Student Fellows". In Phase I Student Fellows presented postersdescribing their ideas at competitions during the NIAC Annual or Fellows Meetings. The mostinnovative of these concepts, as judged by the NIAC Science Council, were then invited tobecome Phase II Student Fellows. Phase II Fellows further developed their ideas for a presenta-tion at the next NIAC meeting.

Phase I NSVFP: Six projects were selected for the Phase I NSVFP in the seventh contract year.The following NIAC Student Fellows projects were selected from proposals received onSeptember 1, 2004. The students presented their projects in poster format at the 6th AnnualMeeting held October 2004 in Seattle, WA.

ANDREW BINGHAM, Clarkson University, "Deployment of an Interstellar ElectromagneticAcceleration System"XIADONG LIU, YU LIANG, & QICHANG LIANG, Michigan State University, "Propulsion by theRecoil of the Field Momentum"CHRIS MALOW & DANIELLE ADAMS, University of Virginia, "Humanitarian Systems Enabledby Space Solar Power"HUNTER MARKS, Louisiana State University, "Towards a Decision Support System forSelecting a Landing Site on Mars"TOMMY SEBASTIAN, North Carolina State University, "Lunar Scout Vehicle - A Novel Long-Range Lunar Rover"NEIL TORONTO, Brigham Young University, "Creative Autonomous Vehicles"

Phase II NSVFP: In the seventh contract year, NIAC supported five Phase II NSVFP projects.These projects were selected in competitions held at NIAC meetings by a team comprised of theNIAC Science Council and experts from NIAC and USRA. Four projects were presented as brief-ings at the October 2004 meeting in Seattle. These students were Phase I Fellows at the March2004 meeting.

ZACH ADAMS, University of Washington, "The Origin of Life and Spaceflight Biospherics in situFree Radical Polymerization Processes for Space System Applications" FLORIN MINGIREANU, Louisiana State University, "Ramjet Statoreactor"DARIN RAGOZZINE and FRANK WHITE, Harvard University, "Collectible Projectosats"KEN VAN DYKEN, JOEL EIGEGE, PAUL SOKOMBA and DAN MOUW, Calvin College, "GlobalSystem for Monitoring Earth Radiation Balance"

One project was presented as a briefing at the March 2005 meeting in Atlanta. This project wasselected from the Phase I poster competition held at the October 2004 meeting: ANDREW BING-HAM, Clarkson University, "Deployment of an Interstellar Electromagnetic Acceleration System"Many of the presentations made by NIAC Student Fellows can be found at www.niac.usra.edu.

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NIAC Student Fellows Prize (NSFP)Following the October 2005 meeting, the NIAC leadership teamin consultation with the NIAC Science Council moved to create adramatically different program to identify and nurture creative,innovative undergraduates who have shown exceptional creativ-ity and promise for future success in building visions of the future.The NIAC Student Fellows Prize (NSFP), sponsored byUniversities Space Research Association and managed by NIAC,was initiated in 2005 to attract these students and facilitate theirstudies. The Prize, in the amount of $9,000 dollars, is intended tofoster mentoring, networking, and creativity, and is a student'sfirst opportunity to exercise responsibility in project management.

The first competition in this program was advertised beginning inJanuary 2005. Twenty-two proposals were submitted by the duedate of April 15, 2005. These proposals were submitted by individual students or multidisciplinarygroups of students, overseen by a faculty advisor. Awards will be distributed to the studentsbeginning on September 1, 2005.

Each of the winners will be responsible for three progress reports as well as two presentations:the first, a poster presentation at NIAC's Annual meeting in October 2005 in Boulder, Colorado,and the second, a briefing to be delivered at NIAC's Fellows meeting in Atlanta March, 2006.Over the academic year it is hoped that interaction with the broader NIAC community will inspireand enrich the work of these gifted students. NIAC staff will publicize the efforts of the studentswhich will serve the winners and enhance the Prize's attractiveness.

The next call for proposals for the Prize will be released in January 2006 with a due date expect-ed in April 2006. NIAC staff will expand awareness of the Prize and the Call through variousstrategies, including increased communication with technical organizations and universities.

The winners of the NIAC Student Fellows Prize for Academic Year 2005-2006:

Andrew Bingham, Clarkson University - "Interstellar Exploration by Repeated ExternalAcceleration"Nicholas Boechler, Georgia Institute of Technology - "Direct Conversion for Solar Space Power"Aimee Covert, University of Michigan - "Advanced Concept for the Detection of WeatherHazards on Mars: Non-Thermal Microwave Emissions by Colliding Dust/Sand Particles"Joseph Fronczek, New Mexico State University - "Bio-Inspired Sensor Swarms to Detect Leaksin Pressurized Systems"Brian Sikkema, Michigan Technological University - "Wind-Driven Power Generation on Titan"

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NIAC Student Fellow PublicationJarret LeFleur, NIAC Student Fellow, had his paper on his NIAC concept, "Daedalon", acceptedfor publication at the AIAA Space Exploration Conference (paper number AIAA 2005- 2771). RonTurner attended the conference, distributed NIAC brochures and had numerous conversationswith potential Phase I proposers, science writers, NASA representatives and other members ofthe technical community.

Financial Performance The NIAC measures its financial performance by how well it minimizes its operational expensesin order to devote maximum funds to viable advanced concepts. For this reporting period, 74%of the NIAC’s total budget was devoted to advanced concept research and development. Wetake great pride in this achievement.

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MissionThe NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) was formed for the explicit purpose offunctioning as an independent source of revolutionary aeronautical and space concepts thatcould dramatically impact how NASA develops and conducts its missions. The Institute pro-vides a highly visible, recognized and high-level entry point for outside thinkers andresearchers. The ultimate goal of NIAC is to infuse the most promising NIAC-fundedadvanced concepts into future NASA plans and programs. The Institute continues to functionas a virtual institute and utilizes Internet resources whenever productive and efficient for com-munication with grant and subcontract recipients, NASA, and the science and engineeringcommunities.

D E S C R I P T I O N O F T H E N I A C

The NIAC Mission

NOW 10 years 20 years 30 years 40 years

MISSIONDIRECTORATESExploration SystemsSpace OperationsScience ResearchAeronautics Research

NIAC MISSION:Revolutionary Advanced Concepts

ARCHITECTURES-Overall plan to accomplish a goal.-A suite of systems, their operational methodsand interrelationships capable of meeting anoverall mission or program objective.

SYSTEMS-The physical embodiment of the architecture.-A suite of equipment, software, and operationalobjective.

NASAPLANS &PROGRAMS

TECHNOLOGYEnablers to constructthe system.

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OrganizationThe NIAC staff is located at the NIAC Headquarters office in Atlanta, Georgia, the Washington,D.C. area, the greater Boston area, and the Chicago area.

Since NIAC is an Institute of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), the NIACDirector reports to the President of USRA. USRA uses many methods in its management ofNIAC to ensure NASA is provided with quality service at a reasonable price. Approximately 70%of the funds provided by NASA for the operation of NIAC are used for funding advanced con-cepts. USRA refers to the remaining 30% of the NIAC budget as NIAC operations costs. Threegeneral management processes and/or methods are employed to provide a comprehensive andcost-effective, advanced concepts development program for NASA. First, USRA uses a provensolicitation and peer review process to solicit, evaluate, and select proposed advanced concepts.Once new concepts are selected for funding, USRA employs the second phase of its acquisitionmanagement approach, which is to award a grant or contract to the selected organizations. Toaccomplish this, USRA uses its government-approved purchasing system. USRA personnelworking this aspect of the acquisition process are guided by the USRA Procurement Manual,which is modeled from the Federal Acquisition Regulations. After the appropriate contractualinstrument has been awarded, USRA monitors overall performance against the respective pro-posed budget and concept development milestones through bi-monthly reports from the princi-pal investigators covering technical, schedule, and budget status.

Revolutionary concepts forsystems and architecturesthat can have a major impacton future missions of theNASA Enterprises, inspire thegeneral public, and excite thenation’s youth.

N I A C F O C U SProvide a pathway for innova-tors with the ability for non-lin-ear creativity to explore revo-lutionary solutions to thegrand challenges of futureaerospace endeavors.

N I A C M E T H O D

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NIAC Organization (* denotes ANSER employee)

ANSER, through a subcontract from USRA-NIAC, brings unique knowledge and expertise to theNIAC program by providing technical and programmatic support to the operation of the Institute.ANSER's participation in the operation of NIAC enables the Institute to have access to significantresources developed over decades of support to the government through the Department ofDefense (DoD). ANSER provides a means to stay aware of innovative DoD and HomelandSecurity (HS) activities relevant to NASA and NIAC. ANSER has a long association with U.S. mil-itary aerospace activities, DoD research facilities, and the Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency (DARPA). ANSER's Homeland Security Institute maintains a close working relationshipwith agencies and organizations involved in homeland security. This facilitates a means to intro-duce NIAC Fellows and concepts to the relevant DoD and HS communities. At ANSER's initia-tive, several NIAC Fellows have presented their research in invited talks in classified settings(e.g., through an NRO speaker's forum). These well-attended presentations get additional expo-sure after the taped talk and the electronic slides are posted on a DoD Web site. ANSER supportsthe operation of the Institute as an electronic virtual entity.

As a corporate expense, the NIAC Science Council was formed to oversee the operation of NIACon behalf of the relevant scientific and engineering communities. The Council is composed of adiverse group of thinkers, eminent in their respective fields, and representing a broad cross-sec-tion of technologies related to the NASA Charter. The Council has a rotating membership witheach member serving a three-year term. The USRA Board of Trustees appoints all Council mem-bers. The current membership of the NIAC Science Council is listed in Table 16.

NIAC SCIENCE COUNCIL

John EvansLynda Goff

Keith RaneyDonna Shirley-Chair

Parker StaffordJack Stuster

Michael Yarymovych

USRA Board of Trustees

USRA PresidentUSRA HEADQUARTERS

Corporate Resources

NIAC LEADERSHIP

Robert A. CassanovaDirector

Diana E. JenningsAssociate Director

Ronald E. Turner *Senior Science Advisor

NIAC HEADQUARTERSSTAFF

Dale K. Little Business Manager

Robert J. Mitchell *Network Engineer

Katherine M. ReillyPublications Specialist

NIAC FELLOWS

Concept Development

TECHNICAL CONSULTANTS

Peer ReviewsSite Visits

Keynote Speakers

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TABLE 16. Current Membership of the NIAC Science Council

FacilitiesNIAC Headquarters occupies 2,000 square feet of professional office space in Atlanta, GA. Thestaff is linked via a Windows 2000-based Local Area Network (LAN) consisting of four Pentium 4PCs, one Macintosh G3 and three UNIX servers. Internet access is provided via a fiber-optic linkthrough the Georgia Tech network. Other equipment includes one Dell Inspiron 7000, one IBMThinkpad T-21, one IBM Thinkpad T-41, one NEC MT 1030 LCD projector, one flatbed scanner,one Xerox Phaser 7300DN printer, one HP Color LaserJet 5 printer, one HP LaserJet 4000TNprinter, one HP LaserJet 3100 facsimile machine and a Sharp AR405 copier.

The servers use RedHat Linux for their operating systems, Apache for the Web server, Sendmailfor the email server, Sybase SQL server for the database, and OpenSSL for Web and email secu-rity. The workstations use Windows 2000 for their operating systems, Microsoft Office XPProfessional for office applications, Netscape Communicator for email access, and AdobeAcrobat for distributed documents.

Virtual InstituteNIAC envisions progressive use of the Internet as a key element in its operation. The Internet isthe primary vehicle to link the NIAC office with NIAC fellows, NASA points-of-contact, and othermembers of the science and engineering communities. The Internet is also the primary commu-nication link for publicizing NIAC, announcing the availability of Calls for Proposals, receiving pro-posals, and reporting on technical status. All proposals must be submitted to NIAC in electronicformat. All reports from the fellows to NIAC and from NIAC to NASA are submitted electronically.The peer review of proposals is also conducted electronically whenever the peer reviewer hasthe necessary Internet connectivity and application software.

ANSER created and maintains the NIAC web site (http://www.niac.usra.edu) which serves asthe focal point of NIAC to the outside world. The web site can be accessed to retrieve and sub-mit NIAC information and proposals. The NIAC web site is linked from the NASA GSFC FlightPrograms & Projects Directorate web site (http://ntpio.nasa .gov/niac/) and the NASA ResearchOpportunities web site (http://search.nasa.gov/nasasearch/search/search.jsp?nasaInclude=niac&Simple+Search.x=27&Simple+Search.y=1), the Office of Earth Science

MEMBER AFFILIATIONDr. Robert A. Cassanova NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) [ex officio]Dr. John V. Evans Aerospace ConsultantDr. Lynda J. Goff University of California-Santa CruzDr. R. Keith Raney Johns Hopkins UniversityDr. Donna L. Shirley - Chair University of OklahomaMr. Parker S. Stafford Aerospace ConsultantDr. Jack Stuster Anacapa Sciences, Inc.

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Research Opportunities at (http://www.earth.nasa.gov/nra/current/index.htm) and the SmallBusiness Innovative Research program at (http:// sbir.nasa.gov). Numerous other links to theNIAC Web site are now established from NASA Centers and science and engineering Websites. Figure 5 depicts the new NIAC Web site.

The New NIAC Web Site Design - http://www.niac.usra.edu.

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The NIAC Process

The NIAC process inspiresand moves toward an ulti-mate goal of infusing revo-lutionary advanced con-cepts into NASA’s longrange plans across theAgency.

NIAC's role is to provideadditional options for con-sideration by NASA withpotentially revolutionaryimprovement in aerospaceperformance and theresulting dramatic exten-sion of mission and pro-grammatic goals. NIACprovides a pathway forinnovators with the abilityfor non-linear creativity toexplore revolutionary solu-tions to the GrandChallenges of future aero-space endeavors. The ulti-mate goal of the NIAC process is to infuse the most successful advanced concepts into main-stream plans and programs.

NIAC follows a process of Inspiration, Solicitation, Review, Selection and Nurturing leading toInfusion in its pursuit of advanced concepts. This process often provides Inspiration for enablingtechnologies and subsystems, scientific Discovery and an expansion of the Knowledge base.

Typical NIAC activities related to "Inspiration" and "Nurturing" are described in detail in theAccomplishments section that begins on page 10 of this report and include the production anddistribution of numerous publications describing NIAC and its funded concepts, active participa-tion in technical meetings and societies, and attendance at numerous invited seminars, etc.Nurturing is further accomplished through Phase II site visits and NIAC sponsored meetings.

Throughout this process, NIAC engages in critical ongoing activities for:

- Active involvement with all constituencies of the technical community;- Collaboration and communication with government, industry and academia;- Connectivity with technology-oriented organizations;- Inspiration, education and outreach through the educational community and the

mainstream press;- Supportive management and nurturing of NIAC awardees;- Feedback from its customers, other agencies and constituencies of the technical

community at large.

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Solicitation

The actual solicitation for advanced concepts is assembled and published by the NIAC staff.The technical scope of the solicitation emphasizes the desire for revolutionary advanced con-cepts that address all elements of the NASA mission. The scope of work is written to inspireproposals in all NASA mission areas and contains brief descriptions of NASA Enterprise areasof emphasis. In general, proposed advanced concepts should be:

- Revolutionary, new and not duplicative of concepts previously studied by NASA,- An architecture or system,- Described in an aeronautics and/or space mission context,- Adequately substantiated with a description of the scientific principles that form the

basis for the concept,- Largely independent of existing technology or a unique combination of systems and

technologies.

Over the last 100 years of scientific and engineering development, there have been many notableconcepts, technical accomplishments and scientific breakthroughs that have had a revolutionaryimpact on transportation within the Earth’s atmosphere, the exploration of our solar system andbeyond, and on our understanding of the cosmos. Creative and often intuitive approaches maylead to revolutionary paradigm changes and interpretative applications or concepts.

The Phase I Call for Proposals continues to express a special interest in receiving proposals forinnovative and visionary concepts from disciplines that are normally focused on non-aerospaceendeavors and may have the potential for innovative application in the aerospace sector. Theseconcepts may be emerging at the interface of traditional disciplines where innovation often springforth in non-aerospace fields.

The evaluation criteria for Phase I and Phase II concepts are included in the solicitation andstructured to convey what is being sought, and are summarized on the next page.

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NIAC Proposal Evaluation Criteria

The NIAC Calls for Proposals are distributed in electronic form only. Under a typical schedule forNIAC operation, NIAC solicits annually for one Phase I and one Phase II. The release of theseproposals generally occur in the latter half of the calendar year.

PHASE I -6 months / $50 - $75K

PHASE II -Up to 24 month / Up to $400K

1. How well have the benefits beenqualified in the context of a future aero-nautics and/or space mission appropri-ate to the NASA charter and responsibili-ties?

2. How well is the concept described ina system or architecture context?

3. Is the concept revolutionary ratherthan evolutionary? To what extent doesthe proposed activity suggest andexplore creative and original conceptsthat may initiate a revolutionary para-digm change?

4. Is the concept substantiated with adescription of applicable scientific andtechnical disciplines necessary for devel-opment?

5. How well conceived and organizedis the study work plan, and does theteam have appropriate key personneland proven experience?

1. Does the proposal continue the devel-opment of a revolutionary architecture orsystem in the context of a future NASAmission? Is the proposed work likely toprovide a sound basis for NASA to consid-er the concept for a future mission or pro-gram?

2. Is the concept substantiated with adescription of applicable scientific andtechnical disciplines necessary for devel-opment?

3. Has a pathway for development of atechnology roadmap been adequatelydescribed? Are all of the appropriateenabling technologies identified?

4. Are the programmatic benefits andcost versus performance of the proposedconcept adequately described and under-stood? Does the proposal show the rela-tionship between the concept’s complexityand its benefits, cost, and performance?

These revolutionary concepts may be characterized by one or more of the following attributes:

- The genius is in the generalities, and not the details,- The new idea creates a pathway that addresses a roadblock,- It inspires others to produce useful science and further elaboration of the fundamental idea,- It contributes to a shift in the world view,- It triggers a transformation of intuition.

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ProposalsIn order to be considered foraward, all proposals are requiredto be submitted to NIAC electron-ically as a .pdf file. Technical pro-posals in response to Phase ICall for Proposals are limited to12 pages; whereas, Phase IItechnical proposals are limited to25 pages. There is no page limitfor cost proposals.

Phase II proposals are onlyaccepted from proposal authorswho have previously received aPhase I award, have not previ-ously received a Phase II follow-on contract and have not submit-ted their Phase II proposal morethan twice. The deadline for sub-mission is the same for thePhase II proposal and associat-ed Phase I final report. Phase IFellows may submit a Phase IIproposal at any time after com-pletion of their Phase I grant, butit must be received by NIAC bythe designated deadline in orderto be considered in a particularreview cycle.

Peer ReviewPeer reviewers are selected from the technically appropriate reviewers in the NIAC database.Additional reviewers are recruited as needed to adequately represent the technical emphasis ofeach proposal. Each reviewer is required to sign a non-disclosure and a non-conflict-of-interestagreement prior to their involvement. A small monetary compensation is offered to each review-er. The technical proposals and all required forms are transmitted to the reviewer via the Internet,by diskette or by paper copy, depending on the electronic capabilities of the reviewer.

Receive Proposal Peer ReviewEvaluations (Electronically if possible)

Receive Proposals Electronically andLog into NIAC Proposal Database

Review of Proposals by 3 InternalReviewers for Responsiveness

Assign 3 (or more) ExternalReviewers from the Technical

Community per Proposal

Send Proposals to Reviewers(Electronically if possible)

NIAC Peer Review Process

Review Panel Prioritization bya Subset of Peer Reviewers

Present Concurrence Briefingto NASA

Follow-up With NASAKey Technical Contacts

Concurrence by NASA

Notify Selected Award Winners andElectronically Transmit Feedback

Initiate Grant/Contract Negotiations

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Reviewers are given approximately thirty days to review the technical proposals and return theircompleted evaluation forms. Each proposal receives at least three independent peer reviews.Each reviewer evaluates a proposal according to the criterion stated in the Call for Proposals.

Templates/forms are created to help guide the reviewer through the process of assigning anumerical ranking and providing written comments. Only NIAC and USRA staff analyze cost pro-posals.

To help ensure that a proposed concept is not duplicating previously studied concepts, NIACaccesses the NASA Technology Inventory Database and other public NASA databases to searchfor related NASA-funded projects. Results of the peer reviews are compiled by NIAC, rank-ordered by a review panel, and prepared for presentation to NASA HQ at a concurrence briefing.

NASA ConcurrenceThe NIAC Director presents the prioritized research selections to the representatives of NASAAssociate Administrators of the NASA Mission Offices before the final selection and announce-ment of awards. Technical concurrence by NASA, required before any subgrants or subcontractsare announced or awarded, is obtained to ensure consistency with NASA’s Charter and to ensurethat the concept is not duplicating concepts previously or currently being developed by NASA.

AwardsBased on the results of the NIAC peer review, technical concurrence from NASA HQ and theavailability of funding, the award decision is made by the NIAC Director. All proposal authors arenotified electronically of the acceptance or rejection of their proposals. If requested, feedbackbased on the peer review evaluation comments is provided to the non-selected proposal authors.

The USRA contracts office then begins processing contractual instruments to each of the winningorganizations. The NIAC staff inputs all pertinent technical information regarding the winning pro-posals into the NASA Technology Inventory Database as well as on the NIAC Web site. The “prod-uct” of each award is a final report. All final reports are posted on the NIAC Web site for publicviewing.

Management of AwardsNIAC will continue to require all Phase I (grant) and Phase II (contract) recipients to submit bi-monthly and final reports. All Phase II contractors will be required to host a mid-term site visit andto submit an interim report before the end of the first half of their contract. Participants in the sitevisits will include the NIAC Director, invited experts in the technical field of the concept, and NASArepresentatives who may be able to facilitate the eventual transition to its long-range NASA fund-ing. All Phase II Fellows are required to give a status briefing at the NIAC annual meeting. AllPhase I Fellows are required to present a poster at the Annual Meeting and give a status briefingat the Phase I Fellows workshop held near the end of their Phase I grant.

Infusion of Advanced Concepts into NASA

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P L A N S F O R T H E 8 t h C O N T R A C T Y E A R

Key MilestonesThe activities planned for the eighth contract year will emphasize the continuous broadening anddiversification of outreach and inspiration to the technical community. These efforts are aimedat reinforcing the NIAC environment that encourages and nurtures the constituency of innovatorsfrom all segments of the U.S. engineering and scientific community. NIAC will also build on thepast successes of transitioning advanced concepts into NASA and other agencies in support ofNASA's visions for all segments of aeronautics and space. Table 17 summarizes the major activ-ities to be conducted and key milestones to be achieved in the eighth contract year.

During the eighth year of the NIAC contract, NIAC will accomplish the following major activities:- Initiate a continuing identification of Grand Visions for Aeronautics and Space,- Host the 8th Annual Meeting in October 2005,- Release the next Phase I and and Phase II Calls for Proposals in November 2005,- Conduct the peer review, concurrence and selection of Phase I and Phase II Awards,- Release the next Call for Proposals for the NIAC Student Fellows Prize in January 2006

and announce the winners by May 2006,- Conduct site visits with currently funded Phase II Fellows for the purposes of oversight

and exploration of opportunities for transition to NASA and other agencies,- Present status briefings to the NASA leadership in Headquarters and the Centers when-

ever appropriate,- Stay closely engaged with the technical community and the technically oriented public

through participation in technical societies, presentation of technical papers andpresentation of seminars to universities and civic groups,

- Be responsive to inquiries from the media for inputs to articles in newspapers,magazines and web-based news services.

ACTIVITY 2005 2006

Phase I CP 0501

Phase II CP 0502

Phase 1 CP 0601

Phase II CP 0602

Annual Meeting

Phase I Fellows Meeting

Science Council Meeting

Student Fellows Prize

MIT Forum Broadcast

Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Release Call for ProposalReview and SelectionAnnounce AwardsGrant and Contract Performance PeriodsEvents

TABLE 17. Key Activities Planned for the Eighth Contract Year

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Solicitation, Selection and Advanced Concept AwardsProposals received in response to the Phase II solicitation, CP 05-02, were peer reviewed andthe review panel was conducted near the end of the seventh contract year. The concurrencebriefing for CP 05-02 is scheduled for July 14, 2005 at NASA HQ. Phase II awards will beannounced in early August 2005.

The next Phase I Call for Proposals, CP 06-01 will be released in November 2005 with a due datein February 2006. The peer review, selection and concurrence will take place from Marchthrough May 2005 with an anticipated announcement of awards by June 2006 with a grant startdate of September 1, 2006. The next Phase II Call for Proposals will be released in November2005 with a due date in early May 2006. The peer review, selection and concurrence will takeplace from May through July 2006. Phase II awards will be announced in late July or early August2006 with a contract start date of September 1, 2006.

Identifying Grand VisionsPrior to the release of each annual Phase I Call for Proposals, NIAC with the assistance of thecontract COTR, polls each of the NASA Directorates to identify Grand Challenges that serves tofocus the creativity of potential proposers on critical challenges of aeronautics and space.Beginning with this contract year, NIAC plans to give a special emphasis on extending the visionof the technical community beyond identifiable challenges toward visions of future possibilities."Grand Challenges" are generally structured to inspire solutions to difficult situations and areproblem solving exercises. They inspire creative application of known scientific phenomena andtechnologies. Whereas, "Grand Visions" are structured to inspire giant leaps forward and canprovide an environment for creativity, imagination and innovation unfettered by near term reali-ties.

NIAC is planning an on-going effort to identify "Grand Visions" that can be the emphasis of futurePhase I Calls for Proposals. Activities aimed at identifying "Grand Visions" may include:

- Formal solicitation of inputs from each of the NASA Directorates,- Hosting a one-day, by invitation only, workshop for key NASA technical leaders and

innovators to brain-storm about visions that extend well beyond NASA long range plans,- Sessions in NIAC Annual and Fellows Meetings structured to encourage unfettered and

creative discussion of vision stretching possibilities for aerospace endeavors,- An open call for "Grand Visions" on the NIAC website to encourage a continuous

dialogue with NIAC on "Grand Visions".

NIAC Annual Meeting and Phase I Fellows MeetingThe next NIAC Annual Meeting is scheduled for October 10-11, 2005 at the Omni InterlockenResort in Denver, Colorado. Speakers will include all currently funded Phase II Fellows, who willgive a status report on their concept, and two or more keynote speakers. As of the publicationdate of this report, confirmed keynote speakers include Dr. Paul MacCready, President ofAerovironment, Dr. Fred Adams, Professor at the University of Michigan and Courtney Stadd,Bigelow Aerospace.

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The next NIAC Phase I Fellows meeting will be held in Atlanta, GA near the NIAC Headquartersand include status briefings by all of the currently funded Phase I Fellows and invited presenta-tions by several keynote speakers.

Outreach to the Technical CommunityThe NIAC website will continue to be the primary, on-going vehicle for continuous communicationwith the technical community. The leadership of NIAC will strategically participate in technicalsociety activities and give invited presentations to other government agencies universities, indus-try and civic organizations. The NIAC technical leadership will accept invitations from non-NASAagencies to give seminars and to receive tours of technical facilities to enhance and supportNIAC's effectiveness and NASA's long term goals.

On September 22, 2005, the MIT Forum is sponsoring a special broadcast throughout the MITForum network from the studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting. The theme of this 1.5 hourbroadcast will be "The Power of Revolutionary Thinking: Driving Innovations for Today andTomorrow". Speakers will be Robert Cassanova and NIAC Phase II Fellows Bradley Edwards,Penelope Boston and Dava Newman. The short presentations will be followed by questions fromparticipants from the audience and the Internet.

Oversight by USRA ManagementThe NIAC Science Council will meet to receive an overview of the status and plans of NIAC onthe day following each of the scheduled Annual Meetings and Fellows meetings. The Council willissue a report to USRA management and NASA on the operation of NIAC and will offer sugges-tions for future activities.

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APPENDIX A

Descriptions of Enabling Technologies from NIAC

CP 02-01 Studies (Performance Period: September 2003 - August 2005)

SOLID STATE AIRCRAFTAnthony Colozza, Ohio Aerospace Institute, [email protected]

CRITICAL TECHNOLOGIES

1. Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC). The development of the IPMC material isone of the most critical issues to the viability of the concept. Further development thatwill demonstrate the ability to make large sections of the material as well as the demon-stration and characterization of its behavior under various operational and control con-ditions is critical to the concepts viability.

2. Thin Film Photovoltaic Array. The solid state aircraft (SSA) is powered by the use ofa flexible thin film solar array. The development of thin film array materials can greatlyenhance the capabilities of the SSA. The array characteristics that will have a signifi-cant effect on the vehicles performance are specific mass (kw/kg), overall efficiency andsubstrate compatibility. If the photovoltaic material can be deposited onto another com-ponent such as a thin film battery or the IPMC material itself, the integration of the SSAcan be greatly enhanced.

3. Flexible Batteries or Capacitors. To store energy between wing flaps a battery orcapacitor must be used. To integrate these into the aircraft they will need to be light-weight, compact and flexible. Development of a suitable energy storage medium is crit-ical to the SSA's operation.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

1. Flapping Wing Aerodynamics. A detailed understanding of the fluid dynamics of flap-ping wing flight is needed to optimize the SSA design and minimize power consump-tion.

2. IPMC Control Scheme / EM Field Generation. A control scheme for the IPMC mate-rial is needed to provide a viable flight vehicle. This control consists of the generationand tailoring of an EM filed which in turn induces the motion of the IPMC. The develop-ment would consist of the capability to generate a field that is tailored in strength andpolarity over the wing area as well as the understanding of what that distribution wouldneed to be to achieve the correct wing motion.

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ANTIMATTER DRIVEN SAIL FOR DEEP SPACE MISSIONS Dr. Steven D. Howe, Hbar Technologies, LLC, [email protected]


The antimatter sail concept relies on the ability to use antiproton induced fission as apropulsion method. The key technologies therefore to enabling this concept are: 1) pro-duction/formation of sufficient amounts of antihydrogen, 2) formation and storage ofnano-flakes of solid antihydrogen, and 3) development of the Tuned PhotovoltaicConversion (TPC) method of converting fission energy into electricity. The formation ofantihydrogen molecules is the first step to making the storage of flakes feasible. The sus-pension of a charged nano-flake electrostatically will demonstrate the storage concept.Both of these technologies can be demonstrated in the near term using normal-matterprotons. The TPC concept uses fission to induce scintillation in a medium. The wave-length of the scintillation is tuned to the acceptance of a photovoltaic cell for high efficien-cy conversion. The TPC could be demonstrated using radioisotopes and currently avail-able scintillating materials.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

Another significant technology is the production and accumulation of antiprotons. Thecurrent production levels need to be greatly increased in order to make sufficient quanti-ties for deep space missions.

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL MEMS SENSORS (GEMS): A REVOLUTIONARYOBSERVING SYSTEM FOR THE 21ST CENTURYJohn Manobianco, ENSCO Inc., [email protected]


1. Electronics. The further integration and miniaturization of electronics is a criticalenabler of the GEMS system. Sensing, processing, and storage must all be combined ina robust monolithic design to implement the final GEMS probe.

2. Communications. State of the art communication systems today such as ad-hoc ormesh networks will not likely support the massive number of probes envisioned for theGEMS system. Since scaling limitations exist for these networks, new protocols and hard-ware must be developed to overcome these difficulties or alternative systems such as lowpower point-to-point satellite communications or hybrid ad-hoc/satellite communicationsmust be employed.

3. Materials. The probes must meet specific design criteria in order to maximize the dwelltime in the atmosphere. The probe shell material must be capable of withstanding enor-

49

mous pressures at high altitudes, but also be incredibly light. Carbon nanotube basedpolymers are needed to provide an ultrathin, lightweight, high tensile strength material forthe shell.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

1. Power. The current solution for power generation is thin-film solar cell technology. Thetwo primary candidates in this arena are thin-film amorphous silicon cells and nanoparti-cle dye cells. Although, thin-film solar cells are an excellent material for power genera-tion, the probe must also be capable of storing power for night-time operation. Two pos-sible options include thin-film batteries or thin-film capacitors.

ASTRONAUT BIO-SUIT SYSTEM FOR EXPLORATION CLASS MISSIONSDava Newman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [email protected]


1. Three-dimensional textile deposition, to enable the formation of anisotropic materialwith specific mechanical properties. Also, the ability to assemble a garment in threedimensions through patterning of fibers and incorporation of other materials (e.g., pas-sive and active elements). We have determined the initial material property requirementsas well as fiber orientation (March 2005, Bi-Monthly Report): tensile strength > 60 N (13lbf) and an elastic modulus that is initially high but that approaches zero as the strain sur-passes 30% and the load reaches 30 N. The target operating range for the fiber or fab-ric is at tensile loads of 30 N ±5 N and strains of 50% ±20%. We are continuing our inves-tigation in to 'electrospinlacing' technology for this application. 3D material deposition willenable a spacesuit to be exactly custom-fit to its wearer. The ability to give the textilespecified mechanical properties in specific directions will enable a spacesuit to mimic thedeformation of the skin.

2. Shape-changing polymers that provide human-scale force. Often these are called "arti-ficial muscles" and they include dielectric elastomers, electrostrictive polymers, shapememory polymers, and mechano-chemical polymers and gels. These active polymerswill enable a mechanical counterpressure spacesuit to apply pressure to the body sur-face after the suit has been donned and may be activated by body temperature. They willalso allow for local control of the tension in the spacesuit fabric; our analysis shows arequirement for 30-70% local contraction or stretch around moving joints to provide con-stant pressure over different curvatures of the body surface.

3. Information technology, wearable computing, energy, and human power harvestingintegration across the entire EVA system. Integration of the space suit with smart EVAtools via data automation; integration of the space suit and EVA tools with other compo-nents of the EVA system including robotic elements. Lightweight, portable, long-durationsources of power, or the ability to harvest the human body's waste energy to powerBioSuit and EVA life support systems. Essentially, spacesuits for planetary exploration

50

require advancements in battery technology. Longer duration traverses will require moreenergy for the astronauts' life support systems, but the additional energy cannot come byincreasing the on-back mass for the astronaut. The use of electroactive fibers and mate-rials for spacesuit shape control or for biomedical sensing will also require additionalenergy.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

1. Distributed sensing for temperature, humidity, chemicals, and mechanical stress.These sensors can monitor life support functions and serve as flexible keyboards (inter-faces) for garments, and they can provide shape control for fabrics.

2. Edema assessment using the Bowman Perfusion Monitor from Hemedex has beencompleted and reported at Aerospace Medical Association (ASMA) Annual Conference,May, 2005 (Treviño, L. and Carr, C.).

ELECTROMAGNETIC FORMATION FLIGHT (EMFF)Raymond Sedwick, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, [email protected]


1. The primary enabling technology for EMFF is high current density, high temperaturesuper conducting wire. The current state of the art is about 13 kA/cm2, which allows it tobe a competitive technology with thruster-based systems. However, the force betweentwo identical spacecraft scales as the square of this current density, for a fixed mass andcoil size, so increases in this density will greatly improve the viability of this technologyat greater distances. The wire being used is a matrix of superconducting material andregular metal, to provide strength and flexibility. The superconducting material has beenlab tested to an upper limit of 6,000 kA/cm2, so the improvements need only come in themanufacturing process of the wire.

2. A second technology which will allow EMFF to function in Earth orbit is higher efficien-cy cryo-coolers. Current thermal designs appear to require on the order of 10s of Wattsper coil of thermal power removal, translating to 100s of Watts of electrical power inputto cryo-coolers for each coil. This appears to be the driving power requirement for thesystem.

3. The third most critical technology is distributed control algorithms. Unlike thrusterbased systems, movements within an EMFF system must be coordinated between mul-tiple spacecraft simultaneously. This is a very complex control problem, which must besolved to make the technology viable.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

1. One potentially useful technology is high density, high strength, non-conducting mate-

51

rials, from which reaction wheels can be manufactured. Metal wheels, rotating within themagnetic field of EMFF generate eddy currents, which will act as a breaking mechanismon the wheels. Although shielding of the wheels with a high permeability material cansolve this problem, it would be more efficient to add mass to the system that would beuseful in other ways (i.e. angular momentum storage), rather than simply parasitic.

INHERENTLY ADAPTIVE STRUCTURAL SYSTEMSParviz Soroushian, Technova Corporation, [email protected]


1. Our technology relies on the piezoelectric phenomenon to convert the (otherwisedestructive) concentrated mechanical energy to electrical energy in order to guide anddrive (constructive) adaptive effects. The energy conversion efficiency and mechanicalperformance of piezoelectric materials are key to successful development of subjecttechnology. Development of nanostructured piezoelectric materials, with a major frac-tion of their molecules occurring on grain surfaces, promises to yield substantially mag-nified piezoelectric effect and thus greatly increase the rate and extent of self-adapta-tion.

2. Mass transport phenomena which are responsible for adaptive phenomena in ourapproach occur in the context of solid electrolytes. Advances in development of solidelectrolytes for energy storage devices have opened the prospects for greatly enhancingthe ionic conductivity and mechanical performance of solid electrolyte through introduc-tion of nano-scale inclusions in the system. Developments in ion-conducting nanocom-posites can facilitate full development and effective implementation of inherently adap-tive structural systems.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

1. Development of functional (piezoelectric and ion-conducting) nanostructured materi-als would depend upon processing techniques which provide nano-scale control overdistribution and interfacial interactions. Developments in nanotechnology emphasizingcontrolled processing of nanocomposites and nanostructured materials would thus beamong enabling technologies for our concept.

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CP 03-01 Studies (Performance Period: October 2004 - September 2006)

TAILORED FORCE FIELDS FOR SPACE-BASED CONSTRUCTIONNarayanan M. Komerath, Georgia Institute of Technology,[email protected]


Large-scale direct conversion of solar energy to tunable radio and microwave frequenciesis a critical technology. We are developing a concept to automatically build massive struc-tures in space using extraterrestrial materials. We propose to use intense fields in long-wave radio resonators to generate the forces that move the materials into desired wallshapes. The system launch mass from Earth for the construction equipment is currentlydominated by the mass of the equipment required to convert broadband solar energy totunable radio wavelengths. Present-day options for such conversion generally go throughan intermediate direct-current step. Other approaches are aimed at micro-scale applica-tions such as cell-phones, where the mass is limited by fabrication and heat-transfer con-siderations. The scale-up to large power levels is not understood.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

1. Intelligent robotic manipulators. Construction of massive structures for extraterrestrialresource exploitation is best suited to stable orbital locations such as the Lagrangianpoints of the Earth-Sun system, or to the orbits of larger Near-Earth objects. Signal tran-sit time is too large to permit telerobotics. Currently we have to keep assembly tasks tovery low intelligence requirements, because robotic assembly and construction are notyet accepted as being intelligent and reliable enough.

2. On-orbit tele-robotics for assembly. System design for complex tasks is constrained bythe diameter and volume of present-day launchers, demanding origami-type deploymentoperations that add mass and complexity. This is all done to avoid on-orbit assembly evenin low-earth orbit. Advances in the reliability and acceptance of tele-robotics would great-ly simplify system design and reduce costs and risk. This would enable launching com-ponents on smaller, widely-available launchers rather than on expensive heavy-liftlaunchers.

3. Beamed microwave power. The use of microwave power beaming as a primary ener-gy source for construction robots and other craft would simplify such systems. This wouldenable separation of the robot design from the primary power system, so that each canbe much more efficient.

BIO-NANO-MACHINES FOR SPACE APPLICATIONSConstantinos Mavroidis, Northeastern University, [email protected]


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1. Bio-nano-robotics. The concept of space bio-nano-robotic systems is based on revo-lutionary bio-nano-mechanisms formed by protein and DNA based nano-components.Here we focus on assembling these bio nano components to form complex roboticassemblies having advanced properties, such as, distributive intelligence, programmingand control. These bio-nano robots would be based on sound design architectures, suchas, modular organization and would have the ability to process information.

2. Network based space sensing for planetary environments. The proposed NIAC con-cept of Networked TerraXplorers (NTXp), is a network of channels containing the bio-nano-robots having the enhanced sensing and signaling capabilities. Using these bio-nano-based robots and utilizing their capabilities of programming and control, we woulddevelop technology to sense the targeted planetary terrain on a very large scale (in orderof miles).

3. Smart self repairing / healing artificial skin architecture. This technology focuses ondeveloping a smart artificial skin based on bio-nano-robots having capability to selfassemble and self repair at run - time based on the surrounding environments. This smartskin would act as a monitoring system; an early warning system and a protection system- against chemicals, radiations, temperature and pressure for the astronauts. . This tech-nology would have an ability to protect the astronaut from the possible injuries and harm-ful effects. This is like an adaptive shield protecting astronauts from any possible healthhazard.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

1. Bio-nano-components. This technology would enable us with a library of bio-nanocomponents having equivalence to the macro robotic components, such as, actuators,joints, sensors etc.

2. Distributive intelligence, programming and control. This technology would give an abil-ity to bio nano-robots to take decisions at nano scale and to store and retrieve informa-tion for many useful tasks, such as, sensing another element or condition. Evolvablehardware is one of the technologies which could be benefited by this.

3. Bio-nano-world to macro-world integration. This technology would connect the nanoworld to the macro world where the information exchange would occur. The sensed datawould be transmitted through this interface to the macro world. The biological signalshave to be amplified and converted to electrical signals and have to be processed andstored and this technology would provide us with the same.

4. Automatic fabrication of bio-nano-robots. This technology would enable deep spacemission capabilities. The in site manufacturing and integration of bio-nano robots with theproposed technologies of network and smart skin would strengthen the time-length andscale of the missions. The automatic fabrication and synthesis technologies would enablemanufacturing these bio-nano-robots as and when required by the mission.

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DIRECTED AERIAL ROBOTIC EXPLORERS (DARE)Alexey A. Pankine, Global Aerospace Corporation, [email protected]


The NIAC concept, Directed Aerial Robotic Explorers (DARE), relies on four enablingtechnologies; Advanced Balloon Envelope Materials, Lightweight Balloon GuidanceSystems, Advanced Guidance and Navigation System Algorithm Development, and aEntry, Descent and Inflation systems.

1. Advanced Balloon Envelope Materials. Advanced super-pressure balloon envelopematerials will minimize mass while maximizing strength and reliability. Of special inter-est is protecting envelope materials against UV and chemical degradation and thermalextremes found in planetary atmospheres. Advanced balloon materials will allow forincreased science payload mass and longer mission duration. Advancements in com-posite envelopes that exploit desirable material mechanical characteristics and reduce oreliminate environmental degradation are of great interest. Development of an ultra-thingas barrier film reinforced with lightweight fabrics or scrims would benefit the DARE con-cept. Development of thin-film materials with variable thermo-optical properties is high-ly desirable for controlling envelope temperatures and, subsequently, internal gas pres-sures.

2. Lightweight Balloon Guidance System (BGS). Development of a high performancelightweight BGS is crucial to the DARE concept. An advanced technology BGS wouldtake advantage of lightweight material technology and aerodynamic research. For someplanets, the capability of making large changes to a balloon's path depends on the abili-ty to deploy large, lightweight airfoils where relative wind speeds or air densities are low.In particular, research into the operation and design of ultra-low Reynolds number airfoilsis important for Mars BGSs.

3. Guidance and Navigation Algorithm Development. Algorithm development, includingBGS modeling and the development of control methodologies will enable the precise andaccurate operation of the DARE concept. Comparison of system performance in knownoperational scenarios with the performance in historical wind conditions is needed. BGSperformance modeling with historic winds would enable optimization of the DARE designand allow for performance estimation. Analysis of the BGS performance in predictedwinds will allow for the development of sophisticated control algorithms and enable per-formance prediction for unknown environments. Analysis will provide for the estimationof the over-flight accuracy of the DARE concept, and aerial deployment accuracy fordeployable microprobes, surface stations and rovers.

4. Reliable and Robust Entry Descent and Inflation (EDI) Systems. A reliable EDI processis essential for a successful DARE mission. Vehicle entry and the initial portion ofdescent will be very similar to other planetary lander missions. Aerial deployment andinflation of the envelope is desired in order to mitigate the issues associated with ground

55

inflation, i.e. envelope damage in high winds. For aerial deployment, there is need for asystem that can rapidly inflate the ultra-lightweight envelope during the relatively shortdescent through the atmosphere without damaging the envelope itself. Design concernsinclude dynamic stability of the entire descending balloon inflation system , i.e. the prop-er relative location, configuration, size and mass of parachute, envelope and gondolathat provides said stability. OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

It is anticipated that technology advancements in the commercial, defense and spacesectors will benefit the DARE concept. Especially useful to DARE will be the advance-ments in energy storage and power generation technologies. These developments couldallow for an increase in the useful scientific payload of the DARE concept. High efficien-cy fuel cells, high-efficiency thin-film solar arrays, and lightweight photovoltaic devicesare of interest to the DARE concept. Advanced technology structural materials with highstrength-to-weight ratios, e.g. carbon nanotubes, could also provide reduced structuralmass resulting in increased in scientific payloads.

THE PLASMA MAGNETJohn Slough, University of Washington, [email protected]


A major feature of the plasma magnetic sail is the fact that there has already been ademonstration of the primary technologies in the laboratory at power levels far greaterthan should be necessary in the space based application. One would however like to seethe following developments for space:

1. Better power processing unit. This would include variable frequency (1 to 100 kHz)power supply capable of driving a variable antenna load impedance - one that will bequite low (less than an ohm, typically).

2. Solar wind detection system: It will be critical to be able to gauge the strength anddirection of the solar wind for obvious reasons. This will likely need to be a local meas-urement made by a small satellite of the spacecraft that is positioned outside of the plas-ma magnet.

3. Guidance systems specifically designed for a thrust vector as complex as what isexpected from the solar wind - plasma magnet interaction.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

It does not appear at this time that there are any significant technological developmentsneeded, other than those that are mentioned above. The major hurtle for this concepthas little to do with technological feasibility. It is convincing NASA or others to take the

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effort and time to understand the underlying principles, and to realize the revolutionaryrepercussion to space travel the plasma magnet would have if successfully developed.

ROBOTIC LUNAR ECOPOIESIS TEST BEDPaul Todd, Space Hardware Optimization Technology (SHOT), Inc.,[email protected]


1. Pioneer organisms. Planetary ecopoiesis will require living organisms that can with-stand extremes of temperature, pressure and humidity while metabolizing actively, atleast part-time, as photoautotrophs or chemoautotrophs. Cyanobacteria and certaindeep-living autotrophs are candidate pioneer organisms. If they function they can bejoined by heterotrophic consumer pioneer organisms like certain bacilli, which can bringearly metabolic balance to the pioneer ecosystem.

2. Laboratory ecopoiesis test bed. Before research on extraterrestrial bodies can pro-ceed, research in the laboratory under simulated planetary conditions is required. Thisrequirement is being met by a test bed designed for and dedicated to biological testing.In the case of Mars, a daytime temperature of +26 C and a nighttime temperature downto -130 C are required, along with an atmosphere of Martian composition at 10 mbar.Flexibility of parameters and automated control are important, as the effects of theseextremes on pioneer organisms must be taken into account and parameter adjustedaccordingly until the effects of the extremes are understood.

3. Efficient and safe miniaturized simulated planetary environments. Challenging thermalproblems are associated with creating a portable Mars-like environment that can be dis-tributed among many laboratories and classrooms. If 1,000 teachers and students eachstudy 100 cm2 of simulated regolith under simulated planetary conditions, then 10 squaremeters of simulated planetary surface could be "under cultivation" at a time using a vari-ety of organisms and approaches. The technical hurdles are heat rejection during theintensely illuminated daytime and cooling during the intensely frigid planetary (or lunar)night and meeting rigid safety requirements.

OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

1. Access to extraterrestrial venues. The above technologies are considered preparato-ry to research at extraterrestrial venues. All planetary parameters are simulated in theterrestrial test beds except cosmic radiation and gravity. The International Space Station(using centrifuges) and the Moon (using passive thermal control and telemetry) constituteextraterrestrial venues for test-beds where the missing parameters can be included; how-ever, fidelity of other parameters (day-length, atmosphere) would suffer.

2. Novel laboratory information networks. Data synthesis from multiple terrestrial test-beds (and any future extraterrestrial facilities that may emerge) may be required to sumover widely dispersed rare events. Some experiments may take decades. Self-prompt-

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ing messages and neural networks are only examples of potential technologies thatcould be utilized to create knowledge from sparse data gathered over many venues.

3. Microbial health assessment. Robust remote sensor technologies that report metabo-lites, gas composition and other parameters indicative of living matter will ultimately berequired as research progresses using terrestrial and extraterrestrial test beds.

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APPENDIX B

Infusion Status and Recommendations

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APPENDIX C

Inspiration and Outreach Contacts2004:PROPOSAL REVIEW, National Science Foundation (NSF)August 24-25: Ron Turner participated in an NSF proposal review. The advanced facility underreview potentially complements several space systems concepts in NIAC's 10-40 year time frame.

INVITED LECTURE, Aerospace Electronics Association (AEA)September 28: Bob Cassanova gave an invited lecture at the monthly meeting of the AEA heldat the offices of Electromagnetic Sciences in Norcross, Georgia. The meeting was attended by 35engineers and scientists.

INVITED LECTURE, Winston Elementary SchoolSeptember 28: Bob Cassanova gave an invited lecture on the topic of "Space" including anima-tions of several NIAC concepts to a group of 150 second and fourth graders at the WinstonElementary School in Villa Rica, Georgia.

PAPER PRESENTED, International Astronautical Congress (IAC)October 4-8: Bob Cassanova presented a paper authored by himself and Ron Turner entitled"Visions and Possibilities for Future Exploration of Space" at this meeting in Vancouver, BC.Papers were also presented by NIAC Fellows Dava Newman, Ralph McNutt, Terry Kammash,Bradley Edwards, Jerome Pearson and Geoffrey Landis. Over 2000 people attended. Bob alsoattended a number of the technical sessions and participated in a dinner with a group with a spe-cial interest in the space elevator.

VISITING PROFESSOR, National Institute for Aerospace (NIA)October 28: Dr. Walter O'Brien, Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Tech, who isworking closely with the National Institute for Aerospace (NIA), visited with Bob Cassanova toexplore possible closer collaboration with NIAC. The NIA is funded by NASA LaRC. Bob gaveWalter an overview of NIAC and copies of the NIAC brochure.

ABSTRACT SUBMITTED, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)Conference on Space ExplorationNovember 1: Ron Turner submitted an abstract, co-authored with Bob Cassanova and DianaJennings, for a paper to be presented at the "1st Space Exploration Conference: Continuing theVoyage of Discovery" in Orlando, Florida.

INVITED SPEAKER, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Space DayNovember 5: Diana Jennings attended Space Day at MIT in Boston. Space Day is an annualevent organized by Boston's Museum of Science and sponsored by the Massachusetts SpaceGrant. Approximately 350 students from inner city and suburban schools attended. DanielleAdams, a NIAC NSVFP Phase I awardee, presented her NIAC-sponsored work and fielded ques-tions from attendees.

ATTENDANCE, American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology Conference(ASGSB)

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November 9-11: Diana Jennings attended the 20th Annual Meeting of the ASGSB in New YorkCity. NIAC Fellows Wendy Boss and Paul Todd presented at the meeting. Diana Jennings distrib-uted brochures, business cards, and advertised the new Phase I Call for Proposals. She also par-ticipated as a new member on the ASGSB Finance committee.

ATTENDANCE, Space Vision 2004November 12-14: Diana Jennings attended the Space Vision 2004 meeting in Boston. SpaceVision 2004 is a major meeting of the Students for Exploration and Development of Space(SEDS) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mars Society (MITMS). Michael Laine ofLiftport, Inc. and NIAC Fellow Bradley Edwards demonstrated a new robotic lifter which is a pro-totype for lifters that will be used to construct the Space Elevator and ferry cargo.

INVITED LECTURE, Georgia Tech School of Aerospace EngineeringNovember 18: Bob Cassanova gave an invited lecture to about 100 students at the Georgia TechSchool of Aerospace Engineering as part of their senior design class activities.

INVITED PRESENTATION, NASA SBIR/STTR November 19: Bob Cassanova gave a presentation at the annual meeting of the NASASBIR/STTR program at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.

ATTENDANCE, NASA Capability Roadmap Public Outreach WorkshopNovember 30: Ron Turner and two additional ANSER analysts (John Starcher and Geoff Lordi)attended the NASA Capability Roadmap Public Outreach Workshop, in Washington DC, spon-sored by NASA's Advanced Planning and Integration Office.

INVITED LECTURE, Global Atlanta Group- Southern Polytechnic State UniversityDecember 7: Bob Cassanova gave an invited lecture to a meeting of the Global Atlanta group atthe Southern Polytechnic State University. This group included about 200 representatives fromAtlanta area universities, consulate offices in Atlanta and local area businesses.

ATTENDANCE, Office of Exploration Systems Research & Technology InterchangeMeetingDecember 13 - 17: Sharon Garrison attended the Office of Exploration Systems Research &Technology Interchange Meeting in Pasadena, CA. She gave a 10 - 15 minute catalytic focusedpresentation on key technology opportunities for Space Exploration. Approximately 325 peopleattended and participation was by invitation only. Sharon attended the 4 working sessions forAdvanced Studies, Concepts and Tools - Advanced Concepts and Exploratory Research andTechnology and distributed 100 NIAC brochures. Additionally, Sharon wrote and delivered arequested white paper to Neville Marzwell.

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2005:PLANNING, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Forum Symposium onAdvanced Space Exploration Concepts, Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB)January 27: Bob Cassanova met with Jeff White (GPB), Ann Revell-Pechar (President Revell-Pechar Inc., PR, Marketing, and Events), Jake Shakhman (GPB) and Bob Scaringe (MarketingConsultant) to discuss the possibilities of setting up a TV broadcast of an MIT Forum-sponsoredprogram on Space Exploration. The program will feature NIAC, with invited speakers includingBob Cassanova and several NIAC Fellows such as Bradley Edwards, Dava Newman, andPenny Boston.

PAPER PRESENTED, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SpaceExploration ConferenceJanuary 30 - February 1: At the AIAA Space Exploration Conference in Orlando, Florida, NIACStudent Fellow,Jarret LeFleur, had his paper, "Daedalon", accepted for publication, but not pres-entation (paper number AIAA 2005- 2771). Ron Turner attended the conference, distributed NIACbrochures and met with potential Phase I proposers, science writers, NASA representatives andother members of the technical community.

ABSTRACT SUBMITTED, National Astrobiology Institute (NAI)February 1: Diana Jennings prepared and submitted an abstract to the NAI of an invited paperto be presented at their meeting in Boulder, Colorado in April, 2005.

ATTENDANCE, USRA Education and Public Outreach (EPO) SummitFebruary 2-3: Diana Jennings attended the USRA EPO summit in Columbia, Maryland. She dis-tributed information about the Student Fellow Prize and conferred with other USRA EPO peopleon leveraging USRA resources to maximize the visibility of the NIAC Student Fellow Prize Call forProposals.

INVITED PARTICIPATION, Loya Jirga Future In-Space Capabilities MeetingFebruary 2-4: Bob Cassanova attended the Second Loya Jirga: Future In-Space Capabilitiesmeeting organized by Harley Thronson in the Space Sciences Directorate. The meeting was heldat the Hotel Boulderado in Boulder, Colorado.

ATTENDANCE, Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG)February 10-11: Ron Turner attended the OPAG meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. OPAG is a newscience working group defining science objectives for outer planet exploration.

ATTENDANCE, INVITED PAPER, PLENARY and SESSION CHAIR Space Technology andApplications International Forum (STAIF) MeetingFebruary 13 - 17: Bob Cassanova and Diana Jennings attended and presented a paper at theSTAIF 2005 meeting held in Albuquerque, New Mexico . Bob chaired the session on "Exploration"and presented a plenary talk in the opening session of the "Colonization" symposium.

ATTENDANCE, Mars Exploration Program Assessment Group (MEPAG)February 16-17: Ron Turner attended the MEPAG meeting in Arlington, Virginia. MEPAG is anestablished science working group defining science objectives for Mars exploration.

MEETING, National Science Foundation (NSF)February 18: Ron Turner met with the NSF to discuss potential peer reviewers for pending PhaseI proposals.

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PLANNING, Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB), NASA TVFebruary 22: Bob Cassanova attended a meeting at GPB to continue the planning for the MITForum sponsored event to include a plenary talk by Bob Cassanova and presentations by threeNIAC Fellows. The public event will take place in the studios of GPB on September 22, 2005 andwill be a live internet broadcast over the MIT Forum website. The broadcast will also be offeredto NASA TV as a live broadcast or recording for later editing and broadcast. Preliminary discus-sions are also proceeding that explore the possibilities of a one hour program focused on spaceexploration.

INVITED PARTICIPATION, Consul General of SwitzerlandMarch 4: Bob Cassanova was invited by the Consul General of Switzerland in Atlanta to attenda luncheon honoring Swiss Astronaut Nicollier. Bob Cassanova attended a luncheon and a pub-lic lecture by Nicollier.

PANEL SERVICE, NRC’s Panel D: Human Health and Support SystemsMarch 5: Ron Turner has been appointed chairman of the NRC's Panel D: Human Health andSupport Systems which is part of the NRC's review of the NASA capability roadmap.

MATERIALS PROVIDED, American Astronomical Society (AAS) 43rd Robert H. GoddardMemorial SymposiumMarch 29-30: NIAC provided brochures and NIAC Student Fellows Prize announcements forhandout at the AAS 43rd ROBERT H. GODDARD MEMORIAL SYMPOSIUM, "Earth and SpaceScience: Exploring the Possibilities" in Greenbelt, Maryland.

INVITED PRESENTATION, NASA Ames Astrobiology Institute (NAI)April 11 - 13: Diana Jennings gave an invited presentation describing NIAC life-sciences relatedresearch to a group of about 300 participants.

INVITED PRESENTATION, Student Pugwash Northeast Regional Conference April 15 - 16: Diana Jennings gave an invited talk on NIAC concepts at the annual StudentPugwash Northeast Regional Conference on April 15 - 16, 2005 at Worcester PolytechnicInstitute in Massachusetts.

INVITED SPEAKER, 5TH NATIONAL RECONNAISANCE OFFICE AND AIAA FORUM ONSPACE LAUNCH INTEGRATIONMay 10: Bob Cassanova was the featured dinner speaker at the 5th National ReconnaissanceOffice (NRO) and AIAA Forum on Space Launch Integration in Chantilly, Virginia on May 10,2005. Approximately 300 engineers from NRO, other government agencies, and their contrac-tors attended.

Invention to Venture Life Sciences, Boston Conference CenterJune 2: Diana Jennings attended the forum, "Invention to Venture Life Sciences", at the BostonConference Center at Harvard. The event features a preview to Ernst & Young's state of theindustry biotech report. Speakers include a wide range of industry experts drawn from the univer-sity, investor and business communities. This one-day forum is for university researchers lookingto commercialize biotechnology and for entrepreneurs, investors and industry representativesseeking to learn more about the university technology commercialization process.

WORKSHOP ATTENDANCE, Radiation Shielding and Superconducting Magnet

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TechnologyJune 13: Diana Jennings and Ron Turner attended the Workshop on Radiation Shielding andSuperconducting Magnet Technology held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Theworkshop was coordinated by NIAC Fellow Jeff Hoffman.

INVITED PAPER 2005, National Space and Missile Materials Symposium (NSMMS)June 28: Bob Cassanova gave an invited paper at the 2005 NSMMS session entitled "Moon &Mars: There & Back". He also participated on a panel at the end of the session chaired bySteve Wax.

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APPENDIX D

NIAC Publicity2004:Discover MagazineJuly 2004Discover Magazine featured the NIAC-funded Space Elevator on the front cover and in an 8-pagearticle. NIAC Fellow, Bradley Edwards; NIAC Associate Director, Patricia Russell; and NASA'sMSFC David Smitherman and NASA's JPL, Neville Marzwell were interviewed and quoted in thearticle.

GSFC Public Affairs Office, Goddard NewsAugust 2004The USRA/ANSER-NASA NIAC Team's recent NASA Honor Award is recognized in the October2004 Goddard News. The article is entitled "NIAC Team Wins Award for Six-Year Walk on the WildSide". http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/goddardnews/gnews10-04.pdf

Atlanta Journal-Constitution30 September 2004In the September 30, 2004 issue of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution there is an article on page B-1 about NIAC's latest awards for Phase I grants. The article is authored by Mike Tone. The arti-cle includes quotes from Bob Cassanova, Director of the NIAC, and also acknowledges theUniversities Space Research Association.

The Daily Camera6 October 2004Webster Cash's new Phase I is described in an article entitled: "Taking A Pinhole View of theCosmos", by Todd Neff. The entire article is located at:http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/science/article/0,1713,BDC_2432_3233502,00.html

Scientific AmericanOctober 2004The October 2004 issue of Scientific American contains an article written by Ross Hoffman, NIACPhase II Fellow, entitled "Controlling Hurricanes: Can hurricanes and other severe tropical stormsbe moderated or deflected?" This article is based on his Phase II concept funded by NIAC andhe acknowledges NIAC's support.

San Francisco ChronicleOctober 2004Keay Davidson with the San Francisco Chronical contacted NIAC to gather information about anarticle he is preparing on the subject of "antimatter" based on the keynote presentation by Dr. KenEdwards at the NIAC Fellows Meeting in March 2004.

NOVA Television SeriesOctober 2004The NOVA series, "Origins", narrated and hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, is broadcast over pub-lic TV channels and includes several interviews with Dr. Penny Boston who is a NIAC Phase IIFellow.

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UniverseToday.com29 September 2004An article published entitled "NASA Pushes the Limits with New Awards" at Universe Today wasdrawn from a NASA News Release prepared by Bill Steigerwald of the GSFC Public AffairsOffice.The article is located at: http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/nasa_investigates_advanced_concepts.html.

New Scientist, Space Daily, U.S. State Department, MSNBC, WIRED, University ofWashington PressOctober - March 2005These publications described the work of NIAC Fellow Robert Winglee of the University ofWashington. His advanced concept, the MagBeam, is described in the following sites: New Scientist , http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996543SpaceDaily , http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rocketscience-04zh.htmlState Department, http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3217961/WIRED, http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,65391,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_5University of Washington press release, http://www.washington.edu/newsroom/mars.htm

UniverseToday.comOctober 2005UniverseToday.com published articles about the Robert Winglee's Mag Beam and WebsterCash's Space Based Observatory at the following links:http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/mag_beam_propulsion_system.htmlhttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/biggest_pinhole_camera_ever.html

Business WeekOctober 2004Two articles appeared in Business Week (businessweek.com) regarding the space elevator:"Universe in a Grain of Sand", and "SciFi: Novel Inspiration".

The following links are three news sites that posted an announcement of the recent NIAC PhaseI awards. Additionally, the artwork concept of the moon base radiation shield (Analysis of a LunarBase Electrostatic Radiation Shield Concept, PI: Dr. Charles R. Buhler, ASRC AerospaceCorporation, Kennedy Space Center, Fla.) was used in each article. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0409/28advanced/http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=15150http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/nasa_investigates_advanced_concepts.htm

NewScientist.com18 October 2004On October 18th, NewScientist.com published an article about Magbeam on the following link:http://www.new scientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996543

Astrobiology MagazineOctober 2004NIAC Fellow Penny Boston mentions her NIAC work in the article entitled, “Life in a Lava Tube”in Astrobiology Magazine in the first link below. http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1260.html.

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NOVA TelevisionOctober 2004NIAC was contacted by NOVA regarding a NOVA series about weather control including an inter-view with NIAC Fellow Ross Hoffman. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20041103-9999-lz1c3concepts.htmlhttp://www.nightskyobserver.com/moon03100401.htm

GRANI (Russian Press)October 2004Russian coverage of Phase I NIAC awards taken from the NASA Press Release authored by BillStiegerwald, GSFC Public Affairs Office: http://grani.ru/Techno/m.77635.html

ABCnews.com8 November 2004Robert Winglee and NIAC are featured on a front-page article about space sails onABCnews.com: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/Science/story?id=229166&page=1

Planetary Society3 November 2004Bob Cassanova was interviewed by Mat Kaplan in connection with a radio program for Planetary Society.

Esquire Magazine, ‘Genius Issue’December 2004The Space Elevator is discussed on page 201 in the December 2004, Genius Issue, of Esquire.NIAC's Phase I winners are announced in a full page article in the newsletter of the AmericanSociety of Gravitational and Space Biology,http://www.asgsb.org/newsletter/v20_3/v20n3.pdf.

GSFC Public Affairs Office Press Release19 November 2004A NASA Press Release about the recently announced NIAC Phase I Proposal Call was issued onNovember 19, 2004. Bill Steigerwald of GSFC Public Affairs Office prepared this Press Releaseand coordinated it with NASA HQ. The release can be viewed at the following link:http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/nov/HQ_04380_NIAC.html.

University Today17-18 November 2004University Today published two articles on November 17 and 18, 2004, authored by Fraser Cainand Nancy Atkinson, on NIAC-developed advanced concepts. The articles are at the links below.Space Elevator? Build it on the Moon Firsthttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/lunar_space_elevator.htmlhttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/lunar_space_elevator.html

Magnetic Bubble Could Protect Astronauts on Long Tripshttp://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/magnetic_bubble_protect.html

Newsweek (Polish Version)5 December 2004NIAC was informed that an article about NIAC will be released in the Polish version of Newsweekduring the week of Dec. 5, 2004.

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Christian Science Monitor2 December 2004On December 2, 2004, the Christian Science Monitor released an article by Peter Spotts aboutRobert Winglee's Magbeam, a NIAC Phase I advanced concept study. NIAC and Bob Cassanovaare also cited in the article several times. The link and article follows.http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1202/p15s01-stss.html

Washington PostRon Turner and Dale Little were contacted by Guy Gugliotta from the Washington Post who ispreparing an article about NIAC.

CBS/Wired Radio22 December 2004Bob Cassanova was interviewed for a radio segment to be broadcast on CBS/Wired radio. Theinterview was broadcast on December 22 and can be heard at::http://www.heingartner.com/wired_radio/12-22-2004/NASA_outside_of_the_box.mp3

Animal Planet, Storyteller Media GroupJanuary 2005Bob Cassanova was contacted by a reporter from Storyteller Media Group, an independent pro-duction company based in Western Australia. They are currently producing "Animal X" for AnimalPlanet and one episode may include a segment about the Entomopter, a NIAC concept devel-oped by Anthony Colozza and Robert Michelson.

Proceedings of the AIAA Space Exploration Conference30 January-1 February 2005NIAC Student Fellow, Jarret LaFleur, notified NIAC that a paper based on his NIAC funded con-cept, "Daedalon", has been accepted for publication in the proceedings of the AIAA SpaceExploration Conference (paper number AIAA 2005-2771) on January 30-February 1, 2005.

Alaska Airlines MagazineJanuary 2005An article in the January 2005 issue of Alaska Airlines Magazine, titled "Star Search: AmbitiousResearch Projects Probe the Solar System, and Beyond, for Answers to Some of theFundamental Questions of Science," features Robert Winglee's Mini-Magnetospheric PlasmaPropulsion (M2P2) NIAC-funded advanced concept.

MediaCorp Press TODAY19 January 2005Carlo Montegmano, NIAC funded Phase I Fellow, continued his research beyond his NIAC fund-ed Phase I grant and has achieved noteworthy success, as documented at: http://www.todayon-line.com/articles/33037.asp The article is entitled, "Nanorobots now muscle-powered".

CNN.com18 January 2005There was a short article published entitled, "Biology meets microchips to make tiny robots"regarding Carlo Montegmano, NIAC funded Phase I Fellow, on Jan. 18, 2005, at CNN.comhttp://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/01/18/microbots.reut/index.html

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Space Review23 January 2005NIAC Phase I Fellow Jeff Hoffman's concept for using magnetic shields for radiation protectionwas featured in an online article at http://www.thespacereview.com/article/308/1

ConstituentWorks Corporation Radio Broadcast25 January 2005The NIAC Director was interviewed on Jan. 25, 2005 by Mike Lippis of ConstituentWorksCorporation for a radio broadcast. The interview can be heard at the following websites.http://www.officeroutlook.com/RADIO/NIAC.htmhttp://www.officeroutlook.com/http://www.officeroutlook.com/news/science.htm

Space.com, CNN, The Register, USA Today, The Discovery Channel26 January 2005On January 26, the Drudge Report linked to the article on Space.com about Dava Newman's"Biosuit". The link to the Drudge Report is: http://www.drudgereport.com/ The article was alsopicked by the Yahoo at http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=96&ncid=96&e=1&u=/space/20050126/sc_space/hightechspacesuitseyedforextremeexplorationThe Bio-Suit also received media coverage at: CNN, Space.com, The Register, USA Today andThe Discovery Channel in Canada at the following links:http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/01/26/bio.spacesuits/index.htmlhttp://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/spacesuit_innovations050126.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/28/space_suit_mit/,http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/view.asp?date=1/26/2005

UniverseToday.com28 January 2005On January 28, UniverseToday.com carried an article about Roger Angel's Phase I concept. Thearticle is entitled "A Pristine View of the Universe... from the Moon" and is available at:http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/pristine _view_universe_moon.html

The Chronicle, Duke University16 February 2005The NIAC Student Fellows Prize is mentioned in the February 16, 2005 edition of The Chronicleonline report, an independent daily at Duke University at the following link.http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/ ART/2005/02/16/421359d797ccd

Space.com18 February 2005On February 18th, Brad Edwards was featured on Space.com. The article is entitled "ElevatorMan: Bradley Edwards Reaches for the Heights" by Sara Goudarzi Edwards' Phase I and PhaseII funding from NIAC is mentioned.The article is at:http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/edwards_boldly_050218.html

Space.com22 February 2005Leonard David at Space.com authored an article entitled "Digging and Sniffing for Life on Mars"

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by Leonard David. The article is a fascinating overview of the current search for life on Mars.NIAC Phase II Fellow Penny Boston was interviewed and both her NIAC work and NIAC werecited. NIAC Phase I Fellow, Robert Zubrin, was also interviewed. Additionally, NASA ChiefScientist, James Garvin, was also interviewed. The article is at the following link.http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050222_mars_methane.html

NASA Press Release23 February 2005NASA issued a press release authored by Bill Steigerwald announcing the NIAC Student FellowsPrize.

British TelevisionFebruary 2005Diana Jennings was contacted by David Paterson who is a science writer and is beginning to plana documentary named "Ark Ship" for a British television station. The theme of the documentarywill be "human exploration" and is likely to include NIAC concepts.

Grant MacEwan CollegeFebruary 2005NIAC was contacted by Carter Haydu who is writing an article for Grant MacEwan College inEdmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The Futures ChannelFebruary 2005The Futures Channel released a short video clip of the interviews that were conducted at theNIAC Annual Meeting in October 2004. The clip includes interviews with Bob Cassanova, SharonGarrison and a number of the NIAC Fellows. The clip is available on line at the following link:http://www.thefutureschannel.com/niac/

Space.com9 March 2005Leonard David authored an article in Space.com entitled "Super Telescopes in Space and on theMoon". The link is: http://space.com/businesstechnology/050309_lunar_scope.html.

NASA GSFC ArticleMarch 2005Ronald Toland, an engineer in NASA GSFC, wrote article about Dr. Webster Cash's NewWorlds Imager that is now on the NASA website at: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/new-worlds/new_worlds_imager.html.

Huntsville Times28 March 2005The Huntsville Times newspaper published an article authored by Donna Fork about the NIACFellows Meeting.

Georgia Trend MagazineApril 2005The April issue of Georgia Trend magazine includes an article and photos about NIAC andNIAC sponsored concepts being developed by organizations in Georgia. (http://www.georgiatrend.com/site/).

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Galafilm Productions, Inc.May 2005NIAC was contacted by Galafilm Productions, Inc. to explore the possibilities of working on a 4-part docudrama about the first human mission to Mars. Rob Hoyt, NIAC Phase II Fellow, was rec-ommended as a source of information on tethers and trusses in space. He was contacted andagreed to serve as a technical resource for the docudrama.

Discovery Channel16-18 May 2005Robert Winglee's Phase I concept, MagBeam, will be included in a forthcoming special programon the Discovery Channel called the "Science of Star Wars".

NASA Web SiteMay 2005An article about Robert Winglee's NIAC-funded advanced concept, The Magbeam, is featured onthe NASA site at: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/magbeam.htmlIt also appears on the NASA main page for "Exploration of the Universe":http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/features/index.html

The Christian Science MonitorJune 2005In an article entitled "Solar-sailing era begins in space", Peter N. Spotts quotes Dr. Bob Zubrin,NIAC Phase I Fellow. Dr. Zubrin mentioned NIAC in his comments. The link is:http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20050620/ts_csm/awindy_1;_ylt=AlTECrx_cJPmdiLm3XXy.IblmlUA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Published Book, “Centauri Dreams”June 2005Paul Gilstar, a science reporter for the Raleigh News and Observer, published a book, "CentauriDreams", that gives many positive comments about NIAC and a number of the NIAC fundedconcepts. The book is described on the Amazon.com website:(http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/038700436X/202-4615300-4221458) and onGilster's website www.centauri-dreams.org.

Popular ScienceJune 2005The NIAC sponsored Biosuit, being developed at MIT by Dr. Dava Newman, is featured on thecover of the June 2005 Popular Science.

National Public RadioJune 2005NPR's 'Talk of the Nation' this past week featured NIAC Fellow Bradley Edwards, President ofCarbon Designs Inc., http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4679039. SpaceElevator status on NPR audio was posted on Slashdot on June 5, 2005.

Sensors MagazineJune 2005There is a short article on p. 10 of the June 2005 issue of Sensors Magazine regarding GEMS(http://www.sensorsmag.com/).

GSFC Public Affairs OfficeJune 2005On June 14, the GSFC Public Affairs Office published a press release authored by BillSteigerwald about the NIAC Student Fellows Prize. On June 15, a press release also authoredby Bill Steigerwald announced the list of Phase I Awards. As a consequence of these announce-ments, Space.Ref, BBSNews, Slashdot.com and others released articles about the NIAC awards.In an article entitled "Solar-sailing era begins in space", Peter N. Spotts, Staff writer of TheChristian Science Monitor, quotes Dr. Bob Zubrin, NIAC Phase I Fellow. Dr. Zubrin mentionedNIAC in his comments. The link is: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20050620/ts_csm/awindy_1;_ylt=AlTECrx_cJPmdiLm3XXy.IblmlUA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

NewScientist.comJune 2005Gerald Jackson (HBar Technologies) reports that in June his newly-funded Phase I study wasdetailed on newscientist.com in an article entitled "'Antimatter harvester' may fuel future space-craft". The article is available at http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn7538

UniverseToday.comJune 2005NIAC and NIAC Phase I PI Dr. Gerald Smith of Positronics Research LLC are featured in aUniverseToday.com article entitled "Positron Drive: Fill 'er up for Pluto" on June 30, 2005. The complete article is at: http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/positron_drive_pluto.html?3062005

Space.comJuly 5The NIAC-sponsored Innovative Interstellar Explorers concept led by Ralph McNutt (JohnsHopkins Applied Physics Laboratory) was described on Space.com (http://space.com/busi-nesstechnology/050706_star_voyage.html).

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2004annualreport[2]

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