NASA release of SALMON-3 and MMX Program Element Appendix

NASA Announcement of Opportunity for Third Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity Notice (SALMON-3) Including a Proposal Opportunity for the Discovery Program Focused Mission of Opportunity: MMX Neutron and Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Investigation
 
General Information: Third Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity Notice (SALMON-3)
 
Solicitation Number:
NNH17ZDA004O
Posted Date:
March 22, 2017 (target)
 
Solicitation:
NNH17ZDA004O-MMX
Program Element Appendix:
MMX Neutron and Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Investigation (PEA-I)
Notice Type:
Solicitation
Release Date:
March 22, 2017
Notice of Intent to Propose Due:
April 28, 2017
Proposals Due:
June 20, 2017
 
 
On approximately March 22, 2017, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will be releasing the Third Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity Notice (SALMON-3) Announcement of Opportunity (AO). Upon the release date, the full text of the solicitation will be available at NSPIRES (http://nspires.nasaprs.com/). SALMON-3 is an omnibus NASA Announcement of Opportunity. The SALMON-3 AO provides a solicitation and procurement base for modest investigations, also referred to as Missions of Opportunity (MO), requiring space flight that advance the high priority science, exploration, and technology objectives of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and the Space Technology Mission Directorate. This initial release of SALMON-3 includes one proposal opportunity for a Discovery Program Focused Mission of Opportunity Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) Neutron and Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Investigation.
 
Concurrent with the release of SALMON-3, SALMON-2 (NNH12ZDA006O) is closed, and no more appendices will be added to SALMON-2.
The SALMON-3 AO describes the common requirements for all MO proposal opportunities, as outlined in the AO body and common Appendices A-H. Subsequent Appendices (called Program Element Appendices, or PEAs) will document specific requirements for each proposal opportunity. At the time of AO release, Appendix I, MMX Neutron Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Investigation, will be the only such proposal opportunity. Additional proposal opportunities will be added by amendment to the AO. Bookmarks within the document are provided to aid with navigation. Proposers interested in a single proposal opportunity may find the home page for that proposal opportunity by following the links found in the specific Program Elements link under “Solicitations” at NSPIRES. Note that once a specific opportunity has closed, it can be found directly on the “Closed Opportunities” part of the web site. Amendments to the SALMON-3 AO, including those to specific opportunities or the possible addition of new opportunities, may be found by opening “Amendments.” The document is kept up to date and incorporates amendments in a clearly identifiable manner.
 
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Institute of Space and Astronautical Science is developing the MMX mission for launch in 2024. MMX will orbit Mars, visit the martian moons Phobos and Deimos, make close-up remote-sensing and in situ observations of both objects, and return a sample from Phobos. Pending a formal agreement, NASA may participate substantially in the MMX mission, in part through the provision of one science instrument. This solicitation calls for proposals for complete, Principal Investigator led (PI-led) science investigations requiring spaceflight instrument development. When deployed on the MMX mission, this spaceflight instrument will be used to conduct innovative, integrated, hypothesis, or scientific question-driven investigations addressing the mission’s science goals.
 
Participation in SALMON-3 opportunities is, in general, open to all categories of organizations (U.S. and non-U.S.), including educational institutions, industry, not-for-profit organizations, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, NASA Centers, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other Government agencies. However, for PEA I, only U.S. organizations are eligible to propose as the sole or lead organization. Non-U.S. organizations may participate as non-lead organizations collaborating with U.S. leads.
 
The SALMON-3 solicitation will be open from March 21, 2017, through March 18, 2022. Further information about the solicitation and each PEA will be available on the SALMON-3 Acquisition Page, https://soma.larc.nasa.gov/salmon-3/index.html as it becomes available. A Pre-proposal Conference will be held on April 17, 2017, via Webex; see the MMX PEA additional information page at http://soma.larc.nasa.gov/mmx/ for exact date, time, agenda, and logistical information.
 
Direct questions specifically regarding PEA-I to: Dr. Thomas Statler, MMX Program Scientist, Planetary Science Division, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546; Tel.: (202) 358-0272; Email: thomas.s.statler@nasa.gov (subject line to read “MMX AO”). Responses to all inquiries will be answered by email and also posted at the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) location of the MMX Program Acquisition website listed above; anonymity of persons/institutions who submit questions will be preserved.
 
Questions concerning SALMON-3 may be addressed to Dr. Jeffrey Newmark, Deputy Associate Administrator for Research, Science Mission Directorate, NASA HQ, Washington, DC 20546; Tel.: (202) 358-0684; Email: Jeffrey.newmark@nasa.gov.