The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program has funded two Stanford researchers for Phase I projects described as high-risk, high-reward ideas that may seem technologically out there but would have a huge impact on space exploration should they succeed. One project led by Marco Pavone, is a robot that extends its arms to climb in Martian caverns and grasp objects. The ReachBot uses extendable booms that can be rolled up and unrolled to anchor the bot or push off of surfaces like a leg. The other project led by Sigrid Close, called SCATTER, is a mothership that emits power with a laser beam to manipulate a probe craft in deep space.