NASA's future tech: 9 out-of-this-world concepts

The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program funds projects that could shape the future of space exploration.

In Phase I, projects undergo nine months of study to determine their viability. Phase II gives selected projects two years of additional development.

Satellites could connect to a Mars surveyor and quickly transfer data to Earth as they pass between the two planets without advanced propulsion by using a cycler orbit, which places a craft on continuous intersects between Mars and Earth.

Magnetically levitated robots could shuttle material on a flexible track on the moon, removing the need to build roads or replace worn-out moving parts.

Compressed structures loaded on a Falcon Heavy rocket could expand to more than a kilometer in orbit and rotate to create artificial gravity, making them suitable for orbital habitation.

A robot with extendable arms could explore and sample Martian caves and cliff faces to find older and harder-to-reach material samples.

Tiny, wirelessly controlled robots could expand the range of missions to find life on ocean worlds like Europa and Enceladus.

Fungi could be used to break down carbon-rich asteroids and remove toxic substances, turning regolith into usable soil for human habitats.

Arrays of telescope optics, lenses, and mirrors on the moon could capture and redirect light to photovoltaic panels, providing power even in deep craters that don't receive direct light.

A rover could deploy drilling robots to autonomously collect ice from below the surface of Mars, where signs of life may be present.