Wednesday, April 16, 2014: In a bid to ensure safe, deep-space exploration without being marred by poor battery back-up, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is now on the hunt for an alternative to battery power for its spacecrafts of the future. And, what do we know, it’s going all public over it!
In a recent development, NASA is seeking help from both public institutions and companies to submit their proposals for efficient battery alternatives. Entries are invited in categories ranging from low-level energy cell design, such as chemistry and packaging to advanced devices having enough ammo to beat existing lithium cells. Furthermore, the four most promising candidates selected from the first phase of selection process will be given cash awards by NASA.
Meanwhile, NASA is also developing flying saucers to be powered by rockets. The Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) will allow for landing heavy payloads and is a part of NASA’s ongoing Mission Mars. The actual test is scheduled to take place in June with the developers currently sweating it out at the US Navy’s facility in Hawaii.
NASA is also gearing up to Open source its code by creating a central searchable database as part of a federal order to boost technology transfer rate. The new database would include over 1,000 of NASA’s previous projects ranging from robots, climate simulators to rocket guidance systems.
