NASA just announced funding for 13 new "Innovative Advanced Concepts" under the NIAC program. They include a swarm of autonomous "gram-scale interstellar probes" designed to send back images of Proxima Centauri, and a sample return mission to Venus.
NASA 2024 NIAC Program Selects Deep-Space Hibernation Technology for Development
NIAC 2024 Selections
A new kind of solar sail could let us explore difficult places to reach in the solar system using a technique known as diffractive light sailing. The NIAC is supporting it with a Phase III grant
