Aug 23, 2011 06:37 GMT  ·  By

Officials with the American space agency announce that three more Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM) have been approved by a special NASA commission. The endeavors have the potential to change the way space is explored, experts say.

At the same time, another main reason why these specific missions were selected is because they have the potential to leave their mark on subsequent spacecraft and technologies used for space exploration. All of them are focused on critical aspects of flying through space, NASA says.

The selections include a system that may change space communications altogether, a deep space navigation system, as well as advanced in -space propulsion capabilities. If successful, all of them could be introduced on future generations of spacecraft.

The technologies associated with these three projects are deemed to be high payoff, disruptive tehnologies, which private corporations do not yet have access to. However, by pursuing them vigorously, the American agency hopes to refine and mature other associated technologies as well.

In the end, this approach is expected to boost the capabilities and lower the costs now associated with both government and commercial space activities. In the end, having fast, affordable and potent access to space has been a goal for dedicated agencies for the last 50 years or so.

“These technology demonstration missions will improve our communications, navigation and in-space propulsion capabilities, enable future missions that could not otherwise be performed, and build the technological capability of America's space industry,” NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun says.

“Optical communication will enable rapid return of the voluminous data associated with sending spacecraft and humans to new frontiers,” he adds from NASA Headquarters, in Washington, DC.

“High-performance atomic clocks enable a level of spacecraft navigation precision and autonomous operations in deep space never before achieved, and solar sails enable new space missions through highly efficient station-keeping or propellant-less main propulsion capabilities for spacecraft,” the official adds.

The first mission to be selected is the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration. This is a reliable, capable, and cost-effective optical communications technology, whose principal investigator is Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) expert David J. Israel.

Secondly, the Deep Space Atomic Clock will attempt to demonstrate that a miniaturized mercury-ion atomic clock can be as much as 10 times more accurate than anything we have today. Todd Ely, of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is the main investigator on the project.

The third project is called Beyond the Plum Brook Chamber; An In-Space Demonstration of a Mission-Capable Solar Sail, and represents the first solar sail produced for an actual space mission, not just demonstration. The principal investigator is Nathan Barnes, from the Tustin, California-based L'Garde Inc.