The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is Closing

Since 1998, NIAC has set new targets for man’s future in space by seeking out and funding proposals for revolutionary aeronautics and space concepts. Many concepts have had an impact on how NASA develops and conducts its missions.

NIAC has provided a highly visible, recognizable, and high-level entry point for new voices in advanced concepts research and development. NIAC encourages proposers to think decades into the future in pursuit of concepts that will “leapfrog” the evolution of current aerospace systems.

Most important, while NIAC sought advanced concept proposals that stretch the imagination, these concepts were based on sound scientific principles and attainable within a 10 to 40-year time frame.

NASA, faced with the constraints of achieving the Vision for Space Exploration, has made the difficult decision to terminate NIAC, which has been funded by NASA since inception. Effective August 31, 2007, the NIAC will cease operations. It is anticipated that this web site will be archived and made available on the USRA web site, www.usra.edu