CBD: NASA: Announcement of intent concerning the NASA Office of Space Science plans for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission

[Commerce Business Daily: Posted in CBDNet on October 2, 2001]

From the Commerce Business Daily Online via GPO Access

[cbdnet.access.gpo.gov]

PART: U.S. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENTS

SUBPART: SERVICES

CLASSCOD: A–Research and Development

OFFADD: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition
Branch, Code 210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771

SUBJECT: A–ANNOUNCEMENT OF INTENT CONCERNING THE NASA OFFICE
OF SPACE SCIENCE PLANS FOR THE MAGNETOSPHERIC MULTISCALE (MMS)
MISSION

DUE 050102

POC Dr. James Spann, MMS Study Scientist, Phone (202) 358-0888,
Fax (202) 358-3987, Email jspann@hq.nasa.gov

DESC: The Sun-Earth Connection Division of the Office of Space
Science (OSS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA), issues this Announcement of Intent (AOI) concerning
its tentative plans for the solicitation and implementation
of the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission, which is a
key, strategic mission in the Solar Terrestrial Probe program.
Note that this AOI is not a solicitation for the MMS science
investigations, spacecraft, or launch vehicle.

The current
state of planning calls for NASA OSS to release two Announcements
of Opportunity (AO’s) that will solicit proposals for science
investigations to accomplish the Magnetospheric MultiScale
(MMS) mission. This mission intends to investigate and answer
the fundamental questions concerning the physics of reconnection,
charged particle acceleration, and turbulence as outlined in
the MMS Science & Technology Definition Team Report (available
at http://stp.gsfc.nasa.gov/missions/mms/mms.htm ). The primary
science objective of the MMS mission is to understand magnetic
reconnection. Because of the need for the maximum congruence,
compatibility, and simultaneity of the required data over a
volume of space, the studies that have been conducted to date
suggest that this mission must consist at a minimum of four
identical spacecraft, each carrying identical science payloads.
Therefore, NASA plans that the first MMS AO will solicit a
single Payload Science Team (PST) investigation that provides
identical science payloads and their spacecraft and that would
cover all mission phases (A-E) under the leadership of a single
Principal Investigator (PI). Given the availability of multiple
proposals of sufficient merit, NASA intends to select several
such science proposals to conduct preliminary studies (Phase
A), at the conclusion of which one effort will be selected
for formulation (Phase B), leading to implementation (Phase
C/D) and mission operations/data analysis (Phase E). This PST
investigation would also include responsibility for the design
and management of all spacecraft, as well as the science payloads.
Government services, such as procurement and management of
commercial spacecraft from the Rapid Spacecraft Development
Office catalog, will be available to the proposers to this
PST AO. The second phase of this tentative plan calls for the
release immediately after the conclusion of the PST Phase A
study of the second MMS AO that will solicit InterDisciplinary
Science (IDS) investigations.

Pending the submission of a sufficient
number of proposals of merit, four to six IDS investigators
will be selected who will have equal and open access to all
of the MMS science data and who will be expected to work synergistically
and cooperatively with the PST PI for the completion of specific
science investigations, including any that may have similar
objectives even though independently proposed. The successful
IDS PI’s and the PST investigation PI will together form the
MMS Science Working Group that will work synergistically with
NASA for implementation of this mission.

The estimated schedule
of these procurements is as follows: 7 Release of Draft AO
of the MMS PST AO: November 2001 7 Release of Final PST AO:
February 2002 7 PST Proposals due: May 2002 7 Selection of
PST proposal(s) and initiation of Phase A study: October 2002
7 Conclusion of Phase A study and release of MMS IDS AO: Summer
2003 7 Selection of MMS IDS investigations: Winter 2003 7 Launch
of MMS spacecraft and initiate mission operations: 2008 Comments
or questions regarding this AOI may be directed as follows:
By mail: Dr. Jim Spann MMS Study Scientist Code SS NASA Headquarters
Washington, DC 20546 By fax: 202-358-3987 (please use a cover
sheet addressed to Dr. Spann to help ensure confidentiality)
By E-mail: jspann@hq.nasa.gov (please use “MMS AOI” as the
Subject)

LINKURL: http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=04#99081
LINKDESC: Click here for the latest information about this notice

EMAILADD: jspann@hq.nasa.gov

EMAILDESC: Dr. James Spann

CITE: (D-275 SN50Z5O9)