The NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is offering this grant to support crew health and performance for space exploration missions.

This NASA NRA jointly solicits proposals for NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) in support of the Human Research Program. For this solicitation, NASA and NSBRI are placing special emphasis on the high priority research area of Visual Impairment and Intracranial Pressure. Proposals are solicited by NASA in the areas of Visual Acuity and Ocular Structure and Function; Fluid Distribution; Team Social, Technical, and Task Roles; and Effects of Constrained, Asynchronous Communication on Operational Tasks. Short-term investigations or technologies that provide innovative approaches to any of the defined risks contained in the Integrated Research Plan (http://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov ) of the Human Research Program are also being solicited by NASA. In addition, proposals are solicited by the NSBRI in the areas of Microgravity-Induced Visual Alterations/Intracranial Pressure, Cardiovascular Alterations, Human Factors and Performance, Musculoskeletal Alterations, Neurobehavioral and Psychosocial Factors, Sensorimotor Adaptation, and Smart Medical Systems and Technology. Proposals responding to the NASA emphases and NSBRI emphases must be submitted separately, and will result in separate evaluations and awards.

Step-1 proposals are due on September 22, 2011, and invited Step-2 proposals are due on December 19, 2011. Proposals are required to be submitted electronically and must be submitted by an authorized official of the proposing organization.

Participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, industry, nonprofit organizations, NASA centers, and other Government agencies.

Electronic proposals may be submitted via the NASA centers, and other Government agencies.

Proposals must be submitted electronically. Step-1 Proposers can use either NSPIRES (see URL above) or Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov ) for proposal submission. 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 system(s) well in advance of the proposal due date(s) of interest to familiarize themselves with its structure and enter the requested information. Questions concerning responding to this NRA may be addressed to the contacts referenced in the full solicitation document.

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

Notwithstanding the posting of this opportunity at FedBizOpps.gov or nspires.nasaprs.com, NASA and/or the NSBRI reserves the right to determine the appropriate award instrument for each proposal selected pursuant to this announcement.