That comment on mankind's relentless curiosity was made by the late cultural anthropologist Joseph Campbell, and it neatly summarizes the purpose of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, according to Robert A. "Bob" Cassanova.

A 1975 Georgia Tech graduate with a PhD in aerospace engineering, Cassanova is the NIAC's director, a position he has held since its founding five years ago.

Initiated by the University Space Research Association, the NIAC's role as expressed in its charter is to assist NASA by identifying "grand, revolutionary concepts for architectures and systems" that will significantly affect the space agency's mission and stretch present-day notions about future possibilities.

An interesting example of an NIAC-funded study originated at Georgia Tech, just a few blocks from Cassanova's Midtown Atlanta office. Narayanan Komerath of the School of Aerospace Engineering submitted a proposal for "Tailored Force Fields for Space-Based Construction."

Komerath suggests that acoustical and electromagnetic fields can provide the work in an automated space-based construction system.

"When you want to build large structures in space, it would be very expensive and awkward to carry everything up there prefabricated," Cassanova says. "What if you could use the material from asteroids to make habitats? Dr. Komerath is looking at ways of doing that."

It's pretty imaginative stuff and though, essential technological details are missing — from a nuts-and-bolts standpoint it's not easy to visualize how the system would work — the theory is compelling. But that's the point.

"We're looking for revolutionary ideas, grand concepts that are wonderful and majestic and could have a significant impact," Cassanova explains. "We're not interested in the next best widget or sensor or software program."

The fact that a particular idea can't be completely executed with existing technology isn't a drawback as far as Cassanova and the NIAC are concerned. Proposals must conform to the laws of physics and present credibility in terms of the basic science involved, but "the genius is in the generalities, not the details," he says.

Each fall the NIAC issues a call for proposals that attracts ideas from universities and businesses across the country. Following an extensive peer review of each submission, a NIAC panel meets to discuss the reviews and prioritize the concepts.

The proposals received are winnowed to the top five or six and receive contracts of up to $500,000 over two years.

Of the 101 concepts funded by the NIAC to date, perhaps the one that has received the most publicity is the Entomopter. The creation of Rob Michelson, ECE 74, in the School of Aerospace Engineering, the Entomopter is a microrobot that flies by flapping its wings. The NIAC supported research into the device as a possible means for remote exploration of the Martian surface.

Fans of Sir Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction classic, "Fountains of Paradise," are familiar with the idea behind another NIAC-supported program, the space elevator.

The space elevator has captured the imagination of the engineering and science public, Cassanova says. "This looks like it really could work. There are no serious showstoppers."

The edges of the universe will come a lot closer to Earth if any of the astronomy concepts identified by the NIAC are realized in the coming decades. A project dubbed "Life Finder" envisions segmented optical mirrors, each 200 feet or more in diameter, orbiting through space in arrays that could stretch over several miles. The lightweight mirrors would reflect images to secondary and tertiary collectors and, finally, to an image plane, according to Cassanova. If the idea works, "it could provide the first close-up look at planets outside our solar system," he notes.

Cassanova spends much of his time traveling around the country talking to groups about the NIAC and describing some of the innovative concepts that have come across his desk over the past five years. His comments are punctuated with quotations from science fiction writers, with good reason.

"Lots of scientists and engineers at Georgia Tech have been reading science fiction most of their reading lives and have been influenced and inspired by it," he explains. "We're trying to get people thinking well beyond where they are now — not into the realm of pure science fiction, but looking at the inspiration of science fiction may foretell what can be done in the future."

©2003 Georgia Tech Alumni Association