April 25, 2012

Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1761 sonja r alexander@nasa gov

RELEASE: 12-137

NASA RELEASES CALL FOR PHASE II VISIONARY ADVANCED CONCEPTS

WASHINGTON -- The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program is seeking proposals to continue promising studies for which it has supported the first phase These cutting-edge concepts have the potential to transform future exploration missions, enable new capabilities, or significantly alter current approaches to launching, building, and operating aerospace systems

"These transformative concepts have the potential to mature into the new capabilities NASA needs for the challenging space missions in its future," said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington

NIAC projects are chosen based on their character as innovative and visionary, technically substantiated, and very early in development -- 10 years or more from use in a mission NIAC's current diverse portfolio represents multiple technology areas, including power, propulsion, structures, and avionics

"We are thrilled to be launching Phase II, so the 2012 NIAC portfolio can feature the most exciting combination of new ideas and continued development," said Jay Falker, NIAC program executive at NASA Headquarters

The call for proposals follows last summer's inaugural selection of Phase I concepts, which are now under study NIAC will be accepting proposals of no more than 20 pages until June 6

NASA expects to fund between five and nine Phase II studies this year The number of awards will depend on the strength of proposals and availability of appropriated funds Awardees will receive up to $500,000 over two years to further analyze and develop their innovative concepts and help create new avenues for future NASA missions

Selection announcements are expected in August This limited solicitation is only for continuing NIAC Phase I concepts Phase II proposals are eligible based on any current Phase I studies, or any prior Phase I studies from the original NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts that did not complete Phase II

NASA's early investment and partnership with creative scientists, engineers and citizen inventors from across the nation will pay huge technological dividends and help maintain America's leadership in the global technology economy NIAC is part of NASA's Space Technology Program, managed by the Office of the Chief Technologist To view this research announcement and for more information about NIAC and NASA's Space Technology Program, visit:

http://go usa gov/R1N

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]