NASA, long known for its insatiable appetite for innovation has decided to invest in new projects, including building growable habitats and deep sleep chambers for astronauts on Mars. NASA seeks to challenge the impossible and “change the possible.”

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NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts), the agency's annual program that welcomes submissions from trailblazing researchers, has selected eight technology proposals to invest in.

The projects have the "potential to transform future aerospace missions, introduce new capabilities, and significantly improve current approaches to building and operating aerospace systems," the space agency said in a press release on Friday.

Nasa said there is a range of cutting-edge concepts among the selected projects, including: an interplanetary habitat configured to induce deep sleep for astronauts on long-duration missions; a highly efficient dual aircraft platform that may be able to stay aloft for weeks or even months at a time, and even a method to produce “solar white” coatings for scattering sunlight and cooling fuel tanks in space down to 300°F below zero, with no energy input needed.



NASA said the projects would take at least 10 years of study and development before they can be used on a mission.