Welcome to NIAC s 5 th Annual Meeting

Transcription

1 5th Annual Meeting November 5-6, 2003 Welcome to NIAC s 5 th Annual Meeting Creativity and imagination are not luxuries, but necessities.

2 NIAC s Focus: Revolutionary concepts for systems and architectures that can have a major impact on future missions of NASA, 10 to 40 years Focus on Revolutionary Advanced Concepts for Architectures and Systems into the future NIAC s 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.

3 What is Revolutionary? The genius is in the generalities, and not the details Einstein s Theory of Relativity Darwin s origin of species Galileo Kepler

4 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.

5 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.

6 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

7 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

8 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

9 What is Revolutionary? Don't let your preoccupation with reality stifle your imagination. Robert A. Cassanova and Sharon M. Garrison 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

10 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

11 Transition of NIAC Funded Concepts into NASA Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion System Robert Winglee The Space Elevator Bradley Edwards Rotating Momentum Exchange Tethers Robert Hoyt Super-pressure Balloon ~40-50 m diameter Gondola km Flight Altitude Rel. Wind m/s km Possible Science Sensors Entomopter Anthony Colozza Robert Michelson X-Ray Interferometer Webster Cash Global Constellation of Stratospheric Scientific Platforms Kerry Nock Balloon Trajectory Control System Rel. Wind 5-10 m/s

12 Fellows of the Institute 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 716 Awards to date 118

13 CP Phase I Awards 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

14 CP 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.

15 CP 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.

16 WHO: Inspiring Our Nations Youth NIAC Student Visions of the Future Program University Undergraduate Students Funded by USRA WHAT: Opportunity to Submit Revolutionary Aerospace Concept Ideas HOW: Three page descriptions of imaginative Credible ideas for aerospace systems or architectures to be implemented 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, concepts selected

17 Inspiring Our Nations Youth NIAC Student Visions of the Future Program Funded by USRA Students Selected - September 2003 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 THEY ARE THE FUTURE!! IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!!!

18 Keynote Speakers George Dyson Brigadier General Simon Pete Worden Gary L. Martin

19 George Dyson Writer, boat designer, and historian of technology

20 Brigadier General Simon Pete Worden Director of Development and Transformation, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.

21 Gary L. Martin Space Architect NASA Headquarters