Overview: A Peek into NASA’s NIAC 2025 Symposium
The NIAC program from NASA continues to fuel daring concepts that could redefine how humanity explores space. The Planetary Society’s Planetary Radio delivers a closer look at the first of two episodes from the 2025 NIAC Symposium in Philadelphia, offering listeners a taste of the bold ideas presented by researchers and innovators. This coverage highlights three compelling threads: a glass-based approach to lunar habitats, metamaterial architectures designed for stability in giant space structures, and an inflatable starshade concept intended to enhance future exoplanet observations.
Glass-Blown Lunar Habitats: LUNGS Project
One of the standout discussions centers on the LUNGS project, led by Skyeports LLC. CEO and principal investigator Martin Bermudez, alongside co-investigator and glass artist Josh Simpson, are exploring a novel concept: constructing lunar habitats by melting Moon dust into glass. The idea leverages in-situ resources to reduce resupply needs and potentially enable robust, sheltering structures on the Moon’s surface. The collaboration between engineering and art signals a creative approach to space infrastructure, marrying material science with sustainable, site-specific construction. As NIAC projects go, LUNGS exemplifies how bold materials research can intersect with practical habitat design for long-duration missions.
Architected Metamaterials: Stabilizing Giant Space Structures
Christine Gregg, a research engineer at NASA’s Ames Research Center, introduces a line of inquiry into architected metamaterials designed to stabilize and support massive space structures. Metamaterials—engineered materials with properties not found in nature—offer potential routes to lightweight, resilient frameworks that can withstand the rigors of microgravity, thermal cycling, and radiation. Gregg’s work focuses on how carefully designed internal architectures can damp vibrations, distribute loads, and provide adaptive responses to changing space environments. If successful, these metamaterials could reduce mass, increase stowage efficiency, and improve the longevity of large-scale constructs such as habitats, solar arrays, or communication platforms deployed in orbit or on planetary surfaces.
Inflatable Starshade: A World-Class Tool for Exoplanet Discovery
Inflatable technologies are once again at the forefront of space astronomy in John Mather’s team’s work on an inflatable starshade. Nobel laureate and senior astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Mather explains how a starshade—an external structure positioned to block starlight before it reaches a telescope—could dramatically improve our ability to image Earth-like planets around distant stars. By blocking starlight efficiently, a telescope can collect the faint light of exoplanets, enhancing contrast and enabling more detailed observations. The NIAC program’s focus on early-stage concepts makes the inflatable starshade an especially intriguing candidate for future mission planning, advancing the practicalities of deployment, stability, and deployment reliability in space environments.
What’s Up with Dr. Bruce Betts
Following these in-depth sessions, listeners can stay tuned for “What’s Up with Dr. Bruce Betts,” Planetary Society’s chief scientist. The segment provides a concise, insightful update on current space science, missions, and planetary science news—an ideal complement to the NIAC-focused discussions.
Why NIAC Matters for the Future of Space Exploration
NIAC’s emphasis on visionary, early-stage concepts is essential to the long arc of space exploration. By funding high-risk, high-reward ideas, NASA creates a pipeline of potentially transformative technologies and architectures. The 2025 Philadelphia symposium, as featured by The Planetary Society, showcases how diverse disciplines—from materials science to art and engineering, to astronomy—can converge to imagine and prototype tomorrow’s space infrastructure. These discussions do not just dream big; they lay the groundwork for experiments, simulations, and eventual demonstrations that push the boundaries of what is possible beyond Earth.
Join the Conversation
As space agencies and research institutions continue to push the envelope, public engagement remains crucial. The Planetary Society encourages members and supporters to follow NIAC’s evolving portfolio, attend symposiums when possible, and contribute ideas. Your role in space exploration starts now, as these pioneering concepts move from concept to potential mission-ready solutions.
