Breaking Ground in Space: NASA’s Innovative Projects Set to Transform Astronomy and Exploration

The Great Observatory for Long Wavelengths (GO-LoW) is a groundbreaking NASA project that has the potential to transform astronomy. Led by Mary Knapp at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this massive constellation low-frequency radio telescope uses thousands of autonomous SmallSats to measure magnetic fields emitted from exoplanets and the cosmic dark ages.

In addition to GO-LoW, NASA is also exploring new in-space power sources with the Radioisotope Thermoradiative Cell Power Generator. This technology could enable small exploration and science spacecraft in the future that are unable to carry bulky solar or nuclear power systems. The study is being led by Stephen Polly at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Another innovative project underway at NASA is FLOAT: Flexible Levitation on a Track, a lunar railway system being developed to provide reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the Moon. This rail system could support daily operations of a sustainable lunar base as soon as the 2030s. Ethan Schaler leads FLOAT at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

NASA’s ScienceCraft for Outer Planet Exploration is also working on an innovative imager that leverages quantum physics to take scientific measurements through light absorption. By doing so, this technology allows for lighter and more cost-effective spacecraft to carry imagers across the solar system. Mahmooda Sultana leads ScienceCraft at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Finally, NASA’s NIAC program, funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, is responsible for developing the agency’s new cross-cutting technologies and capabilities to achieve current and future missions. To learn more about NIAC and the 2024 Phase II studies, visit: