Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) FD is a conceptual fusion-powered spacecraft engine. It should produce between 5-10 Newtons thrust per each MW of generated fusion power, with a specific impulse (Isp) of about 10,000-20,000 seconds. They would have 200 kW – 2MW available as electrical power. Approximately 35% of the fusion power goes to thrust, 30% …
Direct comparisons were made between aerocapture and competing orbit insertion techniques based on state-of-the-art and advanced chemical propulsion, solar electric propulsion, and aerobraking. Aerocapture is enabling for three missions: delivery of spacecraft into elliptical orbits at Neptune and circular orbits at Jupiter or Saturn. Aerocapture significantly enhances five other missions by putting larger, and usually …
Hbar Technologies looks at using Breakthrough Starshot laser acceleration to reach Proxima Centauri and then use antimatter propulsion to decelerate. This would not be a flyby mission where a mission would pass through the solar system at 10% of the speed of light. A ten-kilogram spacecraft would have a decades-long exploration and scientific data return …
NASA NIAC fund work to use bioorganisms to perform atmospheric in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Utilizing 100% ISRU for propellant production, they aim to reduce the Entry Descent Landing (EDL) mass of a crewed mission to Mars by approximately 7 tons. This technology will enable long-term human presence on Mars and beyond because costly propellant deliveries …
The Swarm-Probe Enabling ATEG Reactor, or SPEAR, is a nuclear electric propulsion spacecraft that uses a new, lightweight reactor moderator and advanced thermoelectric generators (ATEGs) to greatly reduce overall core mass. This will subsequently require a reduction in operating temperatures and reduce the total power levels achievable by the core. However, the reduced mass will …
Davide Guzzetti, Auburn University, has NASA NIAC funding feasibility analysis of integrating an array of microchips with space satellite functions, or ChipSats, on a multifunctional shape memory polymer (SMP) bus that is capable of self-folding when exposed to solar radiation. This technology may enable the flat fabrication of kilometer-sized antenna arrays for radio astronomy that …
The Lunar Polar Mining Outpost (LPMO) (see quad chart graphic) is a breakthrough mission architecture that promises to greatly reduce the cost of human exploration and industrialization of the Moon. LPMO is based on two patent pending inventions that together solve the problem of affordable lunar polar ice mining for propellant production. The first invention, …
An ultra-long-wavelength radio telescope on the far-side of the Moon has tremendous advantages compared to Earth-based and Earth-orbiting telescopes. Above – Notional view of LCRT on the far-side of the Moon. Credits: Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay Concept of operations for building LCRT. Credits: Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay Benefits will include: (i) Such a telescope can observe the universe at …
Understanding the beginnings of the Universe and life itself is NASA’s long term vision and one of humanities’ grand challenges. Missions to the edge of our solar system and to space between stars in our galaxy – the interstellar medium – are of a great promise to shed light on these questions. However, today’s deep …
A NASA NIAC study is developing the technology to get within 0.5 solar radii of the sun. The goal is to scatter 99.9% of the solar radiation. A solar radii is 700,000 kilometers. They want to get to 0 to 10,000 kilometers away from the surface of the sun. In 2018 the Parker Solar Probe …
Rigidized polymers appear to be a feasible technology to create space telescopes larger than kilometer sizes. It should be possible to make 50 meter space telescope elements in 1000 kilometer baseline space telescope arrays. The Event Horizon Telescope at 1.3 millimeter wavelength achieved 25 microarcsecond resolution on M87. Many 50-meter space telescopes in a 1000 …