ROSES-14 Amendment 8: Change in due dates for C.15, Planetary Protection Research

ROSES-14 Amendment 8 changes the due dates for C.15, Planetary Protection Research (PPR)

Planetary protection involves preventing biological contamination on both outbound and sample return missions to other planetary bodies. Numerous areas of research in astrobiology/exobiology are improving our understanding of the potential for survival of Earth microbes in extraterrestrial environments, relevant to preventing contamination of other bodies by organisms carried on spacecraft. Research is required to improve NASA’s understanding of the potential for both forward and backward contamination, how to minimize it, and to set standards in these areas for spacecraft preparation and operating procedures. Improvements in technologies and methods for evaluating the potential for life in returned samples are also of interest. Many of these research areas derive directly from recent National Research Council (NRC) recommendations on planetary protection for solar system exploration missions.

Amendment 8 changes the due date for C.15, PPR. This program is one of the few calls in Planetary Science that does not use the two-step proposal submission process. Notices of Intent (NOIs) are requested by June 27, 2014, and proposals are due September 5, 2014.

On or about March 19, 2014, this Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement “Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2014” (NNH14ZDA001N) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and will appear on the RSS feed at: http://nasascience.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/grant-solicitations/roses-2014

Questions concerning C.15, PPR, may be addressed to:

Catharine Conley

Planetary Protection Officer

Science Mission Directorate

NASA Headquarters

Washington, DC 20546-0001

Telephone: (202) 358-3912

E-mail: HQ-PPR@mail.nasa.gov