NASA funds cutting

Fourteen awardees received $175,000 awards as part of the program's initial phase, which was announced in January. 

Only six were chosen for Phase II, and they will each get up to $600,000 over the course of two years to continue developing their concepts.

NASA's interest in discovering more about Earth, defending it against dangers, and ensuring astronauts' health in space is reflected in the programs chosen for Phase II funding.

EmberCore - radioisotope-electric-propulsion tech

Meanwhile, an innovative commercial radioisotope technology dubbed EmberCore is being proposed by Ultra Secure Nuclear Corporation, USNC-Tech, to power a radioisotope-electric-propulsion spaceship design.

USNC-Tech intends to create a radioisotope-electric spacecraft design that can travel at astounding speeds of between 50 and 100 km/s.

This spacecraft's architecture might make it possible to carry out solar system-wide science missions.

The Phase II NIAC expands on the viability of Phase I by concentrating on logistical adjustments such as supply chain, regulatory launch approval, assembly, integration, and test while simultaneously carrying out the Phase I maturation plan.

It will finish producing a radioisotope on a modest lab scale and get ready for a demonstration of the radioisotope on a larger size later on.

Phase II also features integrated mission design, which will enable a group of scientists to directly trade the spacecraft architecture and radioisotope against missions that were previously unachievable.

These missions include observing the solar system beyond the Zodiacal flare, parallax microlensing, locating objects in the Kuiper belt, including possible extrasolar objects, conducting flybys and intercepts of objects of interest, and more.

To identify the most appealing but feasible missions that can be the focus of a future NIAC Phase III or comparable program, this Phase II will investigate a wide range of spacecraft design, power conversion, and radioisotope configurations.

The project is heavily focused on facilitating a lot of science through analyzing spacecraft design, power conversion, and radioisotope arrangements.

NASA's Phase II funds will allow these research teams to develop their concepts further and bring them closer to reality, noted the press release.