The Titan seaplane and quicker deep space flight are being funded by NASA

 By Jon Fingas

Jan 10, 2023 11:37 AM

Quinn Morey

In its ongoing effort to improve space exploration, NASA is still open to provide funding for novel ideas. The organisation is awarding first study funding of $175,000 to 14 ideas that may be helpful for missions inside and outside the Solar System. The TitanAir, a seaplane developed by Quinn Morley of Planet Enterprises that could cruise Titan and fly through its atmosphere of nitrogen and methane, may be the highlight. Methane and complex organic material would be gathered for research purposes by the "flying boat" by sucking it in via a porous front edge.

Meanwhile, a UCLA effort led by Artur Davoyan might hasten expeditions beyond the boundary of the Solar System and perhaps interstellar space. His concept (shown in the middle) would use laser blasts to create a "pellet-beam" of minuscule particles that would travel at a very high speed (over 74 miles per second) in order to propel spacecraft. The idea might significantly reduce the amount of time needed to explore deep space. A one-ton spacecraft may travel from the Sun to 100AU in under three years, as opposed to Voyager 1's 35 years to reach interstellar space (the heliopause, around 123AU from the Sun). In 15 years, it might reach 500 AU.

Sometimes, other initiatives are just as ambitious. A deep space observatory suggested by Mary Knapp of MIT would utilise a swarm of thousands of small satellites to look for low-frequency radio emissions from the early cosmos as well as the magnetic fields of exoplanets that resemble Earth. In order to reduce space for Mars expeditions, Congrui Jin of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln has proposed self-growing habitat construction blocks, while Peter Curreri of Lunar Resources has developed pipes that may transport oxygen between Moon colonies.

These are all very early initiatives that aren't guaranteed to lead to real-world tests, let alone missions. However, they illustrate NASA's thinking. The administration is funding the projects now in hopes that at least one will eventually pay off. If there's even partial success, NASA could make discoveries that aren't practical using existing technology.