Cool idea, very ambitious, is there any prior research or feasible testing setup that would support getting from 0 to 1 with this?
The program director has a background in planetary science [1] and I assume they will evaluate proposals.
PMs are typically experts in their field and often come from an academic, industry, military, or government research lab. DARPA gives them a budget for grants, autonomy, and 3-5 years to fund interesting work. Many fail, many have mixed success, and a small number revolutionize their field.
(Source: worked on a few DARPA-funded projects decades ago.)