NASA has selected seven technology proposals based on their potential to make a difference in the agency's future aerospace missions, granting all seven the chance to continue to Phase II of the agency's Innovative Advance Concepts (NIAC) Program. Included in the list are the concepts of metallic lithium combustion for long-term robotics operation; a swarm of satellites that can map gravity fields and characterize properties of moons and asteroids; and space submarines that can explore the oceans of icy moons of the outer planets.

"NASA's investments in early-stage research are important for advancing new systems concepts and developing requirements for technologies to enable future space exploration missions," said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, according to a NASA press release. "This round of Phase II selections demonstrates the agency's continued commitment to innovations that may transform our nation's space, technology and science capabilities."

The proposals were selected through a peer-review process, with innovativeness and technical viability the primary considerations.

While the proposals have won a slot in the NIAC Program, NASA says that the ideas are still in early stages of development and it would take 10 years or more before they could be fully developed and used in future NASA missions.

"This is an excellent group of NIAC studies," said Jason Derleth, NIAC Program executive at NASA Headquarters. "From seeing into cave formations on the moon to a radically new kind of solar sail that uses solar wind instead of light, NIAC continues to push the bounds of current technology."