5th annualmeetingintro
TRANSCRIPT
5th Annual MeetingNovember 5-6, 2003
Welcome to NIAC’s 5th Annual Meeting
“Creativity and
imagination are not
luxuries,
but necessities”.
•Focus on Revolutionary Advanced Concepts for Architectures and Systems
NIAC’s 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
NIAC’s Method: Provide a pathway for innovators with the ability for non-linearcreativity 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
Einstein’s Theory of RelativityDarwin’s origin of speciesGalileoKepler…………
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 elaborationof the fundamental idea
Imagination and visualization are, generally, the first step in learning, or creating, something radically new.
Revolutionary art and visionary physics are bothinvestigations 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 elaborationof the fundamental idea
• It contributes to a major change in the framework of aerospacepossibilities
Scientific research is an art form in this sense: it does not matterhow you make your discovery, only that your claim is true andconvincingly 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 elaborationof the fundamental idea
• It contributes to a major change in the framework of aerospacepossibilities
• It triggers a transformation of intuitionTheories help to put observations into context andto 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 elaborationof the fundamental idea
• It contributes to a major change in the framework of aerospacepossibilities
• 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 significantexpansion of knowledge
• It inspires others to produce useful science and further elaborationof the fundamental idea
• It contributes to a major change in the framework of aerospacepossibilities
• 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 limitsRobert 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 ElevatorBradley Edwards
Mini-Magnetospheric Plasma Propulsion System
Robert Winglee
X-Ray InterferometerWebster 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
EntomopterAnthony 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 dateProposals received to date716
Awards to dateAwards to date118
Fellows of the InstituteFellows of the InstituteFellows of the Institute
Architecture for Unmanned Self-Replicating Lunar FactoriesGregory ChirikjianJohns Hopkins University
Microbots for Large-Scale Planetary Surface and Subsurface ExplorationSteven Dubowsky, MIT Karl Iagnemma, MITPenelope Boston, New Mexico Tech
General Plasma Technologies LLC Optimal Navigation in a Plasma MediumNathaniel FischGeneral Plasma Technologies LLC
Micro Asteroid Prospector Powered by Energetic Radioisotopes: MAPPERSteven Howe and Gerald JacksonHbar Technologies
CP 02-02 Phase I Awards
Modular Laser Launch Architecture: Analysis and Beam Module DesignJordin KareKare 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 GrahamSpaceWorks Engineering, Inc.
The Plasma MagnetJohn SloughMSNW
Robotic Lunar EcopoiesisPaul 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-FejelGeneral Dynamics
Self Assembly of Optical Structures in SpaceM. P. Ulmer and G. C. SchatzNorthwestern University
High Resolution Structureless TelescopeJames WertzMicrocosm, Inc.
CP 02-02 Phase I Awards
Inspiring Our Nations YouthNIAC Student Visions of the
Future Program
Inspiring Our Nations YouthInspiring Our Nations YouthNIAC Student Visions of the NIAC Student Visions of the
Future ProgramFuture ProgramWHO: 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 YouthNIAC Student Visions of the Future
Program
Inspiring Our Nations YouthInspiring Our Nations YouthNIAC Student Visions of the Future NIAC Student Visions of the Future
ProgramProgramStudents Selected - September 2003
THEY ARE THE FUTURE!! IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!!!
“Daedalon: A Revolutionary Morphing Spacecraft Design forPlanetary Exploration”
Jarret M. LafleurGeorgia Institute of Technology
“Verde Base (A Lunar Greenhouse)”Kam YeeSouth 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 andMissile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
Gary L. Martin
Space ArchitectNASA Headquarters