NASA says it has chosen 12 proposals under its Innovative Advanced Concepts Program looking to find breakthrough technology for futures space exploration missions.
Among the proposals, including three from the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., are a submarine that would explore lakes of methane on Saturn's largest moon Titan; measuring and studying the distant moons in orbit around the solar system's outer planets using neutrinos; and a concept that would lead to the ability to capture an asteroid or other space debris tumbling through space.
"The latest NIAC selections include a number of exciting concepts for planetary exploration," said Michael Gazarik, NASA's associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington.
"We are working with innovators around the nation to transform the future of aerospace, while also focusing our investments on concepts to address challenges of current interests both in space and here on Earth."
The Titan "submarine" proposal envisions a craft that could be transported to the moon to dive into and explore a 725-mile-long pool of liquid methane known as the Kraken Mare.
The asteroid or space junk capture proposal would see the deployment of huge nets to ensnare objects, corralling them for further study.
Another scheme would see a science probe that would explore the solar system by hitching a ride on passing comets.
The selected projects -- currently early in their development and likely years removed from implementation -- will now all be given $100,000 for initial research into bringing the concepts closer to reality, NASA said.
That initial researcher phase will last for nine months, after which the space agency will announce the concepts it deems worthy of further study.
"If the basic feasibility studies are successful, proposers can apply for Phase II awards, which provide up to $500,000 for two more years of concept development," NASA said.
The projects were selected in a peer-review process that evaluated the potential, technical research approach, and chances of results in a timely fashion, it said.
Proposals were offered in the areas of space propulsion, science instruments, human habitation, and materials and technology paths for use in space.
"The 2014 NIAC Phase I candidates were outstanding, which made final selections decisions particularly difficult," said NIAC Program Executive Jay Falker. "So we considered various kinds of potential benefit and risk, and developed this portfolio to really push boundaries and explore new approaches, which is what makes NIAC unique."
