Congress has put NASA on notice to re-think its closure of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts - NIAC for short.

Now the long story.

The House Committee on Appropriations has put out its report on Commerce, Justice, Science and related agencies in regard to the appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008.

From the report, the committee has expressed concern that NASA has decided to close the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts “without a rigorous assessment of the Institute’s merit.”

NIAC funded grants for concept development of revolutionary aeronautical and space systems, like the space elevator, novel ways to detect extra-solar planets, and new ideas on space suits, just to name a few.

The report directs the NASA chief to put in gear a study of NIAC by the National Research Council - a study that would gauge the effectiveness of NIAC and review the grants made by the Institute. For one, that study would delve into whether NIAC should continue to be funded by the Federal government and, if so, what changes — if any — should be made to its mission, goals, operations, or other matters.

The NASA Administrator would need to submit the results of the National Research Council appraisal no later than 14 months after enactment of the House Committee Act.