NASA Office of the Chief Technologist: Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase I Studies Grant

All other information included in the original posting remains unchanged.

This solicitation represents continuation of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which issued its first solicitation on March 1, 2011. More information is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/niac .

This NRA will solicit multiple studies, each of which will investigate an architecture, mission, or system concept with the potential to enable a great leap in space or aeronautics. NIAC is part of the Space Technology Program in the Office of Chief Technologist. Aerospace architecture, mission, or system concepts proposed for NIAC Phase I studies must be exciting, unexplored, far-term, and credible. Proposals for narrow technology or subsystem development, or incremental or near-term advancement, are explicitly out of scope for this program. Finally, while NIAC encourages daring vision and accepts the accompanying risk, proposals must be technically credible and plausibly implementable.

The 2013 NIAC Phase I solicitation will be a two-step process. Step A will be a 3-page white paper. Proposals shall be submitted electronically, and all Step A proposers shall use the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES), accessible at http://nspires.nasaprs.com , or the Grants.gov system. Step B full proposals will be eligible only if invited, after review of a Step A submission. Step B proposals shall be submitted electronically through NSPIRES only.

This solicitation will be an open announcement; anyone is welcome to respond. Affiliation with any educational institution, commercial or not-for-profit organization, research laboratory, government agency, or NASA Center (including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory) is permitted. Individuals may submit, as long as they meet the registration requirements for NSPIRES. Every organization that intends to submit a proposal in response to this NRA must be registered with NSPIRES, and such registration must identify the authorized organizational representative(s) who will submit the electronic proposal. Each electronic proposal system places requirements on the registration of principal investigators and other participants (e.g. co-investigators). Potential proposers and proposing organizations are urged to access the electronic proposal system(s) well in advance of the proposal due date(s) to familiarize themselves with its structure and enter the requested information. Specific propo
sal submission deadline dates, evaluation criteria, and submission information will be identified in the NRA. Step A White Papers will be due on or before Friday, February 14, 2013; Step B full Proposals will be due on or before April 18, 2013.

The number of awards will be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

Comments and questions may be addressed by e-mail to NIAC Program representatives at hq-niac@mail.nasa.gov. Responses to inquiries will be answered by e-mail and also included in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document located on the NSPIRES page associated with the solicitation; anonymity of persons/institutions who submit questions will be preserved.