"NASA Invests in Future Deep-Space Missions with 2024 Innovative Concept Awards"
NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program has awarded 13 new projects with Phase I awards to develop advanced space technologies. Among the proposals are a fleet of mini spacecraft to Proxima Centauri, an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for Mars exploration, and a concept for returning surface samples from Venus. These projects, while not guaranteed to become official NASA missions, represent bold ideas that could significantly advance human knowledge and capabilities in space exploration.