The Mars Science Lab, the pricey, SUV-sized next-generation rover, will rush through the Red Planet's atmosphere at twice the speed of sound when it approaches in 2010, and engineers are now hard at work testing the parachute that will slow it down.

Such tests might not sound all that exciting, given that this rover is going to be loaded with high-tech gear, including the equipment necessary to identify, gather and then analyze interesting materials on-board. But they're absolutely critical, since the billion-dollar rover needs a soft landing, and won't have a chance to use any of those cool tools if it doesn't touch down properly.

While most of NASA’s exploratory energy is expended on distant stars and planets, one small department is searching for the fantastic right here on Earth. The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is dedicated to advancing notions so complex that they might not leave the laboratory for another 10 to 40 years. These aren’t new valve designs; they are whole new technological architectures and systems.