5th Annual Meeting

November 5-6, 2003

Welcome
to NIACs
5
th
Annual
Meeting
Creativity and
imagination are not
luxuries,
but necessities.
Focus on Revolutionary Advanced Concepts for Architectures and Systems
NIACs Focus: Revolutionary concepts for systems and architectures
that can have a major impact on future missions of NASA, 10 to 40 years
into the future
NIACs Method: Provide a pathway for innovators with the ability for non-linear
creativity to explore revolutionary solutions to the grand challenges of
future aerospace endeavors.
What is Revolutionary?
The genius is in the generalities, and not the details
Einsteins Theory of Relativity
Darwins origin of species
Galileo
Kepler

What is Revolutionary?
The genius is in the generalities, and not the details
The new idea illuminates a pathway towards a significant
expansion of knowledge
A sense of malfunction can lead to crisis as a
prerequisite to revolution.
May be the basis for a new tradition of normal science
New paradigms seem revolutionary only to those whose
paradigms are affected by them.
What is Revolutionary?
The genius is in the generalities, and not the details
The new idea illuminates a pathway towards a significant
expansion of knowledge
It inspires others to produce useful science and further elaboration
of the fundamental idea
Imagination and visualization are, generally, the first step in
learning, or creating, something radically new.
Revolutionary art and visionary physics are both
investigations in the nature of reality.
What is Revolutionary?
The genius is in the generalities, and not the details
The new idea illuminates a pathway towards a significant
expansion of knowledge
It inspires others to produce useful science and further elaboration
of the fundamental idea
It contributes to a major change in the framework of aerospace
possibilities
Scientific research is an art form in this sense: it does not matter
how you make your discovery, only that your claim is true and
convincingly validated -- Edward O. Wilson
What is Revolutionary?
The genius is in the generalities, and not the details
The new idea illuminates a pathway towards a significant
expansion of knowledge
It inspires others to produce useful science and further elaboration
of the fundamental idea
It contributes to a major change in the framework of aerospace
possibilities
It triggers a transformation of intuition
Theories help to put observations into context and
to create a framework for further understanding
Scientific theories are the product of informed imagination
What is Revolutionary?
The genius is in the generalities, and not the details
The new idea illuminates a pathway towards a significant
expansion of knowledge
It inspires others to produce useful science and further elaboration
of the fundamental idea
It contributes to a major change in the framework of aerospace
possibilities
It triggers a transformation of intuition
Revolutionary paradigm shifts are often simple, elegant, majestic,
beautiful and are characterized by order and symmetry
Creative paradigm changes are often the result of a
non-linear, orthogonal imagination
Symmetry and order can be visually pleasing
Non-symmetry may be richer, more diverse and less boring
What is Revolutionary?
The genius is in the generalities, and not the details
The new idea illuminates a pathway towards a significant
expansion of knowledge
It inspires others to produce useful science and further elaboration
of the fundamental idea
It contributes to a major change in the framework of aerospace
possibilities
It triggers a transformation of intuition
Revolutionary paradigm shifts are often simple, elegant, majestic,
beautiful and are characterized by order and symmetry
There is a subtle yet significant difference between a creative and
credible imaginative concept, and an imaginary pursuit.
Robert A. Cassanova, Ron Turner, Pat Russell
Don't let your preoccupation with reality stifle your imagination.
Robert A. Cassanova and Sharon M. Garrison
Eternal Visions
A pathway to a revolutionary framework of aerospace possibilities
Eternal Visions
Perturb the chaos and cause patterns to emerge
Light the darkness and ignite our passion for knowledge
Inspire our imagination and energize our creative spirit
Give us hope for a future without limits
Robert A. Cassanova
Vision is the art of seeing things invisible
Thoughts on Various Subjects
Jonathan Swift
Transition of NIAC Funded Concepts into NASA
The Space Elevator
Bradley Edwards
Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma
Propulsion System
Robert Winglee
X-Ray Interferometer
Webster Cash
Super-pressure Balloon
Gondola
10-15 km
Balloon
Trajectory
Control
System
~40-50 m
diameter
Possible
Science
Sensors
Rel. Wind
0.3-2.0 m/s
Rel. Wind
5-10 m/s
35-45 km
Flight Altitude
Global Constellation of
Stratospheric
Scientific Platforms
Kerry Nock
Rotating Momentum
Exchange Tethers
Robert Hoyt
Entomopter
Anthony Colozza
Robert Michelson
Phase I awards of approximately
$50,000 to $75,000 will be granted
for six months to validate the
viability of the proposed concept
and define major feasibility
issues
Phase II awards up to $400,000
will be granted for 18 to 24
months
Proposals received to date Proposals received to date
716
Awards to date Awards to date
118
Fellows of the Institute Fellows of the Institute
Fellows of the Institute
Architecture for Unmanned Self-Replicating Lunar Factories
Gregory Chirikjian
Johns Hopkins University
Microbots for Large-Scale Planetary Surface and Subsurface Exploration
Steven Dubowsky, MIT
Karl Iagnemma, MIT
Penelope Boston, New Mexico Tech
General Plasma Technologies LLC Optimal Navigation in a Plasma Medium
Nathaniel Fisch
General Plasma Technologies LLC
Micro Asteroid Prospector Powered by Energetic Radioisotopes: MAPPER
Steven Howe and Gerald Jackson
Hbar Technologies
CP 02-02 Phase I Awards
Modular Laser Launch Architecture: Analysis and Beam Module Design
Jordin Kare
Kare Technical Consulting
The League of Extraordinary Machines: A Rapid and Scalable Approach
to Planetary Defense Against Asteroid Impactors
John Olds, A. C. Charania and Matthew Graham
SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc.
The Plasma Magnet
John Slough
MSNW
Robotic Lunar Ecopoiesis
Paul Todd, Space Hardware Optimization Technology (SHOT), Inc.
Penelope Boston, Complex Systems Research, Inc.
CP 02-02 Phase I Awards
Modeling Kinematic Cellular Automata: An Approach to Self-
Replication
Tihamer Toth-Fejel
General Dynamics
Self Assembly of Optical Structures in Space
M. P. Ulmer and G. C. Schatz
Northwestern University
High Resolution Structureless Telescope
James Wertz
Microcosm, Inc.
CP 02-02 Phase I Awards
Inspiring Our Nations Youth
NIAC Student Visions of the
Future Program
Inspiring Our Nations Youth
Inspiring Our Nations Youth
NIAC Student Visions of the
NIAC Student Visions of the
Future Program
Future Program
WHO: University Undergraduate Students
WHAT: Opportunity to Submit Revolutionary Aerospace Concept Ideas
HOW:
Three page descriptions of imaginative
Credible ideas for aerospace systems or architectures to be
implemented 10-40 years endorsed by a faculty advisor
Compete for the opportunity to present a poster at the NIAC Annual
Meeting to be held in Atlanta, Georgia on November 5-6, 2003
All expenses will be paid for the student(s) and advisor (plus an award of
$200)
10 proposals received by September 15, 2003
3 concepts selected
Funded by USRA
Inspiring Our Nations Youth
NIAC Student Visions of the Future
Program
Inspiring Our Nations Youth
Inspiring Our Nations Youth
NIAC Student Visions of the Future
NIAC Student Visions of the Future
Program
Program
Students Selected - September 2003
THEY ARE THE FUTURE!! IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!!!
Daedalon: A Revolutionary Morphing Spacecraft Design for
Planetary Exploration
Jarret M. Lafleur
Georgia Institute of Technology
Verde Base (A Lunar Greenhouse)
Kam Yee
South Seattle Community College
Biomining for In-Situ Resource Utilization
Darin Ragozzine:
Harvard University
Funded by USRA
George Dyson
Brigadier General Simon Pete Worden
Gary L. Martin
Keynote Speakers
George Dyson
Writer, boat designer, and historian of technology
Brigadier General Simon Pete Worden
Director of Development and Transformation, Space and
Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
Gary L. Martin
Space Architect
NASA Headquarters