Solicitation of Proposals for Possible Inclusion in a Russian Bion-M2 Mission (Phase II)

this opportunity to submit full proposals. Invited responders should follow the instructions given in their invitation letters to submit full proposals. The due date for full proposals is November 5, 2018 and they may be submitted only through NSPIRES.
Proposals will be assessed via scientific merit review followed by a programmatic relevance review as detailed in the invitation letters. NASA anticipates awarding a maximum of 4 research projects. Individual grants shall not exceed $400K total cost per award. Award periods will be for a maximum of 3 years. There should be no expectation of supplementary funding should there be delays in the scheduled flight.
NASA’s decision to make awards under this solicitation will be subject to availability of space on the BION-M2 spacecraft, the submission of proposals of sufficient quality, and US law and policy. NASA may make one, more than one, or no award(s) under this solicitation depending upon the availability of space and the quality of the proposals received. Negotiations for space on the BION-M2 spacecraft are on-going as of the date of this letter.
Proposals that are found to be scientifically meritorious and technically feasible will initially be selected for a Flight Definition Phase during which the experiment requirements will be documented and budget requirements reevaluated. During this phase, which will begin shortly after selection, enough funds will be provided to allow selected investigators to develop their payloads and conduct preliminary ground-based experiments, if required. The budgets allowed or awarded during this phase will vary based on the complexity of the experiment. Funding for the Definition Phase will be negotiated at the time of selection.
The Spaceflight Experiment Phase will begin shortly before the Bion-M2 mission is ready to fly. Progression to this phase will be contingent upon the successful completing of the Definition phase. The remainder of the full grant funding is expected to be initiated 12 months prior to the launch of the Bion-M2 mission and is expected to last for 24-36 months. If there is a significant delay between the conclusion of Definition Phase and start of Spaceflight Phase, then funding will be reduced or suspended during this period, until the time of flight. Likewise, if there is a delay due to a prolonged post-flight sample recovery time, funding will be reduced or suspended until the samples are ready to be sent back to the investigator.


For Programmatic or Scientific Questions:
Dr. David L. Tomko Program Scientist for Space Biology Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications Division NASA Headquarters Phone: 202-358-2211 Fax: 202-358-3091 Email: dtomko@nasa.gov