NASA OK EPSCoR International Space Station Flight Opportunity Program

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Education, in cooperation with the International Space Station (ISS) Research Office, NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate  (HEOMD), Science Mission Directorates (SMD), Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), and NASA’s ten centers (including JPL), is soliciting proposals for the NASA Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) International Space Station (ISS) Flight Opportunity. Each funded NASA EPSCoR proposal is expected to establish research activities that will make significant contributions to the strategic research and technology development priorities of one or more of the Mission Directorates, and contribute to the overall research infrastructure, science and technology capabilities, higher education, and economic development of the jurisdiction receiving funding. 

The recently-issued Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN or solicitation) is for current or previously funded EPSCoR projects that are mature enough to design a research experiment or develop research experimental hardware to the point that it can be safely flown on the International Space Station (ISS).  Each funded NASA EPSCoR proposal is expected to perform scientific and/or technical research in areas that support NASA’s strategic research and technology development priorities and contribute to the overall research infrastructure, science and technology capabilities, higher education, and economic development of the jurisdiction receiving funding. 

NASA EPSCoR is moving to a two-year procurement cycle.  As a result, jurisdictions responding to this Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN) may submit up to two proposals.  It is anticipated that three (3) to five (5) awards for FY 2017 and three (3) to five (5) awards for FY 2018 of up to $100,000 to be expended over a three-year period of performance may be made under this CAN.  The exact number of awards depends on the available EPSCoR Research Budget.

Details regarding Oklahoma NASA EPSCoR's proposal submission process are as follows:

• Two Competitively Selected Projects from Oklahoma researchers will write proposal to be submitted to NASA EPSCoR
• $100,000 award to be expended over three year period.  Must allocate 10% per year to NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR Office
• No Cost Share Requirement. However, the proposer shall be aware of costs such as hardware and/or software development, documentation development support (data to the ISS) that is not covered by this award.
• Selected projects will contribute to and promote the development of research capability in NASA EPSCoR jurisdictions in areas of strategic importance to the NASA mission
• Utilization of the ISS will further strengthen the relationships between NASA and the EPSCoR jurisdictions in the pursuit of national priorities for the advancement of science. This use of the ISS will also open new paths for the jurisdictions to compete for and win much larger spaceflight research projects.
• All proposed projects shall be mature enough to transition to a flight experiment with little or no additional NASA funding
• Access the Complete Cooperative Agreement Notice (CAN)

Letter of Interest Description

The Letter of Interest is limited to a two-page letter and must consist of the following:

• Title of proposed research
• Benefit of a microgravity environment to the research
• A description of proposed research
• Integration potential:  Researchers should refer to the table in section 1.5 of the CAN and for each of the 5 criterion and briefly discuss if their proposed experiment would be considered in the Strong or Average categories

Proposal Submission 

• The two-page letter of interest must be e-mailed to the NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR Office at OKSG.EPSCoR@ou.edu
• The letter of interest must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., January 19, 2017
• Selection will be made January 20, 2017
• Full proposal due to NASA Oklahoma EPSCoR office February 14, 2017

Questions

Ms. Madeline L. Baugher, Project Coordinator: oksg.epscor@ou.edu 
Ms. Kelly Poteet, Administrative Coordinator:adminOKSG@ou.edu