美国宇航局创新先进概念（NIAC）计划已为今年的第一阶段资助选出了 18 个项目，这些项目将共同分享总计 320 万美元（IT之家注：现汇率约合 2,157.8 万元人民币）的开发资金。

B | NIAC 旨在推动 NASA 可在未来太空任务中使用的技术突破。    JOHANNESBURG -- South African officials are hoping that the gradual recovery of one of the country's biggest coal-fired power stations will reduce crippling power blackouts.At least two units at the Kusile power station have been restored in the last three weeks, adding 1,600 megawatts to the national grid and reducing the rolling power blackouts, which can last up to 12 hours a day.The units have been out of service since they broke down in October last year, contributing significantly to the blackouts, known in South Africa as loadshedding.The two units were restored nearly two months ahead of schedule and two more are expected to be brought back online before the end of the year, officials said.While the full recovery of the power station is unlikely to end all power blackouts, it is seen as a significant step toward resolving the power crisis that has severely affected households and the country’s economy.The Kusile power station has six generating units capable of producing 800 megawatts each, making it one of the biggest coal-fired power stations in the world with a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts of electricity.“Both units are adding 1,600 megawatts back into the grid, thereby improving the available generation capacity. This signifies that Eskom is on the right path to reducing and ultimately ending loadshedding,” Daphne Mokwena, spokesperson for power utility Eskom, said Tuesday.The government remains under pressure to bring Kusile and another power station, Medupi, up to full operation. Construction delays, cost overruns and allegations of corruption have besieged both power stations since their construction began in 2007.South Africa has committed to a transition from a heavy reliance on coal for electricity generation to cleaner sources including solar, wind and battery storage. The transition has secured funding pledges of up to $8.5 billion from France, the U.K, Germany, the U.S. and the European Union.However, the country's electricity crisis has led the government to consider prolonging the lifespan of its aging power stations.The country has also launched a program to secure additional electricity from neighboring countries.。根据当地时间 7 月 29 日公布的获奖名单，今年的奖项包括一系列 NASA 认为具有“变革潜力”的任务概念和研究提案。其中包括加固航天器以探索并承受金星恶劣条件的想法、放射性同位素加热的月球宇航服，以及利用太空尘埃部分遮挡太阳以减少太阳辐射的方案。这些入选项目并非实际的 NASA 任务，而是 NASA 认为可能为“阿尔忒弥斯计划”中建立月球基地等项目做出贡献的技术样本。“要实现这一目标，需要的不仅仅是渐进式的技术进步。这意味着我们需要巨大的飞跃，”NASA 研究与技术任务理事会先进研究与技术部门主任格雷格 · 斯托弗在获奖公告中表示，“这些奖项正是世界需要 NASA 帮助培育的创新。”18 位获奖者每人将获得最高 17.5 万美元（现汇率约合 118 万元人民币），用于对其提案进行为期九个月的调研，以确定其可行性以及技术成熟化的后续步骤。

随着 NASA 长期月球居住计划的推进，能够天然屏蔽强烈太阳辐射的地下住所成为了居住空间的重要考量方向。NIAC 获奖创意之一包括来自得克萨斯州 Stone Aerospace 公司的吉利 · 埃洛提出的“月球地下探测器”（LUX）。LUX 将派遣悬停机器人绘制月球静海下方可能长达数英里的熔岩管地图。这些无人机在月球迷宫深处无法接触阳光，每架都将通过一根超轻型光纤电缆与月球表面的着陆器或漫游车相连，后者用激光沿线路输送电力并为这位洞穴潜水探测器提供通信链路。

另一个 NIAC 获奖项目旨在绘制邻近恒星周围类地系外行星的大陆地图。如今，我们可以确定系外行星的大小和构成，但大规模辨别其物理特征此前尚未有人尝试。来自纽约布鲁克海文科学协会的保罗 · 斯坦库斯提议设计一种新型“零差干涉仪”，通过一种名为“动态分层零差”的技术，利用不同望远镜的数据抵消恒星的光芒。他的想法是将一对相距约 60 英里（100 公里）的“零差”太空望远镜的数据合并，以实现足够高的分辨率，探测比其恒星暗淡 100 亿倍的系外行星表面特征的对比度。另一个获奖概念来自迈克尔 · 鲁宾斯坦和西北大学。他们提议向这颗气态巨行星的轨道抛掷数千颗“飞秒卫星”（重量不足 100 克的微型卫星探测器），以探索土星环。根据 NASA 网站上的项目页面，“使用卡西尼号这样的单一旗舰任务对土星环进行原位勘测，会因粒子碰撞而带来无法接受的失败风险。

C | ”相反，飞秒卫星舰队提案建议将 1 万艘航天器送入土星环，并深知其中相当一部分可能会损毁。“拟议任务的分布式特性意味着它可以承受可能摧毁星座中许多飞秒卫星的风险，从而使对土星环的原位勘测成为可能。”“每一项创新、每一次技术飞跃，都始于一颗想法的种子，”NIAC 代理项目执行官菲利普 · 威廉姆斯在 NASA 的声明中表示，“NIAC 计划让 NASA 得以培育这些种子，并确定是否有东西可以成长起来，造福未来的太空任务和我们国家的航空航天经济。”