NASA Human Exploration Research Opportunities (HERO) Planned to be Released in July 2016

NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) investigates and mitigates the highest risks to astronaut health and performance in exploration missions. The goal of the HRP is to provide human health and performance countermeasures, knowledge, technologies, and tools to enable safe, reliable, and productive human space exploration. The scope of this goal includes both the successful completion of exploration missions and the preservation of health over the astronaut’s lifetime.

The solicited investigations can be in the topic areas of HRP’s six Elements: Space Radiation, Human Health and Countermeasures, Exploration Medical Capability, Behavioral Health and Performance, Space Human Factors and Habitability, and International Space Station Medical Project. Those Elements are comprised of fourteen disciplines or areas: Behavioral Health and Performance, Bone, Cardiovascular, Extravehicular Activity, Immunology, Medical Capabilities, Muscle, Nutrition, Pharmacology, Radiation, Sensorimotor, Advanced Food Technology, Advanced Environmental Health, and Space Human Factors Engineering.

Awards generally range from under $100K per year for focused, limited efforts (e.g., data analysis) to $1M per year for extensive activities (e.g., development of scientific hardware). The funds available for awards in each program element offered in this solicitation range from less than one to several million dollars, which allows NASA to select a few to as many as a dozen proposals depending on the program objectives and the submission of proposals of merit. Awards will be made as grants. The period of performance for an award is one to five years. All categories of U.S. institutions are eligible to submit proposals. Any changes or modifications to any of these guidelines will be specified in the descriptions of the relevant program elements in the solicited research response area appendices of this solicitation.

Details of the solicited program elements are given in the solicited research response area appendices of the NASA Research Announcement (NRA). Most program elements will require a Letter of Intent (LOI) and a full proposal to be submitted; however, some program elements may require a Step-1 proposal and an invited Step-2 proposal to be submitted. Proposals that do not conform to the standards outlined in this solicitation will be declared noncompliant and will be handled in accordance with the NASA Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement ( http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/nfstocA.htm). Proposal due dates are given in each solicited research response area appendix of this NRA, which will be posted at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/. Interested proposers should monitor http://nspires.nasaprs.com/and are encouraged to subscribe to the HEOMD electronic notifications system through their NSPIRES account subscription services for additional new solicited research response area appendices or amendments to this NRA through July 2017, at which time release of a subsequent HERO NRA is planned.

ON OR ABOUT JULY 28, 2016, THE UMBRELLA DOCUMENT AND OMNIBUS SOLICITATION OF THIS NRA WILL BE AVAILABLE ELECTRONICALLY THROUGH NASA SOLICITATION AND PROPOSAL INTEGRATED REVIEW AND EVALUATION SYSTEM (NSPIRES) BY GOING TO HTTP://NSPIRES.NASAPRS.COM/. IT IS EXPECTED THAT FLAGSHIP APPENDICES WILL BE RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER 2016 AND MARCH 2017.

All categories of United States (U.S.) institutions are eligible to submit proposals in response to this NRA. Principal Investigators may collaborate with universities, Federal Government laboratories, the private sector, and state and local government laboratories. In all such arrangements, the applying entity is expected to be responsible for administering the project according to the management approach presented in the proposal. NASA’s policy is to conduct research with non-U.S. organizations on a cooperative, no exchange-of-funds basis.

Electronically submitted Notices of Intent to propose are requested.

This is a broad agency announcement as specified in FAR 6.102 (d) (2).

Notwithstanding the posting of this opportunity at https://www.fbo.gov/, http://www.grants.gov

, or at both sites, NASA reserves the right to determine the appropriate award instrument for each proposal selected pursuant to this announcement.

This email is being sent on behalf of HRP and is intended as an information announcement to the research community related to the NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) Human Research Program (HRP).

Thank you for your continued interest in NASA.