The livestream recording is now available.
Meet NASA innovators with visionary ideas powering new missions to the most extreme environments in and out of our solar system!
This online event features two futuristic concepts for the next frontiers of space exploration. As NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Fellows, the scientists behind these projects are creating innovative, technically credible, advanced concepts that could one day "change the possible" in aerospace.
- Lynn Rothschild presents the potential for off-planet mycotecture—structures built with mushroom mycelia (fungi). Instead of transporting bulky materials from Earth, this novel approach suggests sending lightweight structures made with dormant fungal spores that can be activated with water harvested at the destination and grown into durable, self-healing and radiation-protective habitats.
- Robert Hinshaw discusses a proposal to protect astronauts from radiation-induced cell damage during longer deep space missions. This threat to long-term space habitation—with cellular effects equivalent to rapid aging—could be mitigated with a therapeutic process of using healthy mitochondria drawn from individuals before a mission and transplanted back once the space radiation exposure has begun.
Griffin MSI is proud to present From Science Fiction to Science Fact as the latest edition of a long-running partnership with NIAC.
Watch the webinar recording
Watch the July 15 livestream recording below.
Presenters
These NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Fellows describe the latest advances in their work, discuss the discoveries that could come from these projects, and take questions from curious audience members about the future of space exploration.
Want to know more or have questions for the panelists? Contact NIAC at hq-niac@mail.nasa.gov or visit nasa.gov/NIAC.
Dr. Rob Hinshaw
Rob Hinshaw, Ph.D., joined the Radiation Biophysics Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center in 2023 as a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow designing automated biotechnology systems for space exploration. Prior to this, he earned his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2022 for developing multiple neural cell culture models to study the interaction between radiation exposure and Alzheimer’s disease. He currently leads the NIAC-funded MitoMars project investigating the potential for mitochondrial replacement therapy to heal cellular damage caused by space radiation.
Dr. Lynn Rothschild
Lynn J. Rothschild, Ph.D., a research scientist at NASA Ames and Adjunct Professor at Brown University, is a passionate astrobiologist focusing on the origin and evolution of life on Earth and elsewhere especially in the context of the physical environment, while at the same time pioneering the use of synthetic biology to enable space exploration. A graduate of Yale, Indiana University and Brown, she has brought her imagination and creativity to the burgeoning field of synthetic biology, articulating a vision for the future of synthetic biology as an enabling technology for NASA’s missions, including human space exploration and astrobiology.
Hosts
Katherine Reilly
Katherine Reilly is a senior communications expert and award winning scientific and medical illustrator with a diverse background in biology, molecular biology, strategic communications, outreach and education. She developed communications and partnerships for the external NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC), and is currently the Strategic Partnerships Manager to the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program within the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA HQ.
Dr. Voula Saridakis
Voula Saridakis, Ph.D., is Head Curator of Collections and Archives at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and is part of the team that is responsible for the care of Griffin MSI's 35,000+ artifacts. Dr. Saridakis is a historian of science and technology by training, with college-level teaching experience in subjects including history of science, women and gender in science, world civilizations, European history, and women’s history.
Frank Spellman
Frank Spellman (Q&A moderator) is a BryceTech Space Technology Program Analyst who supports NIAC and CIF as the Program Analyst, and ECI as the Program Coordinator. A firm believer in exploring the unknown, Frank views his career purpose as finding and fostering the development of space technologies that will help create a better future for humans.
