Mars 2020 Announcement of Opportunity

General Information:

Solicitation Number:                                                                       NNH13ZDA018O

Release Date:                                                                                    September 24, 2013

Preproposal Conference:                                                             October 8, 2013

Notice of Intent Due Date:                                                          October 15, 2013

Proposal Due Date:                                                                         December 23, 2013

The
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission
Directorate (SMD) is releasing an Announcement of Opportunity (AO)
entitled Mars 2020 Investigations to solicit proposals for
investigations for a space flight mission to Mars, to be launched in
July/August 2020.

The
full text of the AO and any appendices are available electronically at
the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation
System (NSPIRES) website (http://solicitation.nasaprs.com/Mars2020).
Links to the AO and additional information about the intent and the
capabilities of the Mars 2020 rover are located at the Mars 2020
Acquisition Website (http://soma.larc.nasa.gov/mars2020).

Investigations
comprised of individual instruments or multiple instruments (suites)
may respond to the overall Mars 2020 objectives to explore and
quantitatively assess Mars as a potential habitat for life, to search
for signs of past life, to collect carefully selected samples for
possible future return to Earth, and to prepare for future human
exploration of Mars.

The
Mars 2020 Investigations AO solicits flight investigations for which
each Principal Investigator is responsible for a complete space flight
investigation, including instrument hardware, mission operations, and
data analysis.

Although individual PI-managed instrument science
investigations do not have a predetermined cost cap, the total allocated
cost for all the SMD-funded investigations selected is approximately
$100M in Real Year (RY) dollars for Phases A through D. Additional
funding of approximately $60M RY is allocated for investigation in Phase
E.

Additionally, exploration technology investigations, jointly funded
by the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and
Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) may be selected at a total
cost of approximately $30M in RY dollars, including Phase E costs.

The
total payload resources, including mass, power, and data for the
instrument complement, will be provided in a Payload Information Package
(PIP) posted to the Mars 2020 Acquisition Website. Note that the Mars
2020 Investigations AO may contain provisions that differ from this
notice, in which case those in the AO will take precedence.

Participation
in this AO is open to all categories of organizations (U.S. and
non-U.S.), including educational, industrial, and not-for-profit
organizations, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers,
University Affiliated Research Centers, NASA centers, the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, and other Government agencies. Principal Investigators are
responsible for, and may assemble their investigation teams from, any of
these organizations.

A
preproposal conference is scheduled for October 8, 2013, via
video/teleconference from Washington, DC. Notices of Intent (NOIs) are
required and are due October 15, 2013. Proposals are due December 23,
2013.

Contracting Office Address:

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code 210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771

Point of Contact(s):

Dr. Mitchell D. Schulte

Program Scientist, Mars 2020

Planetary Science Division, Science Mission Directorate

Telephone: (202) 358-2127

Fax: (202) 358-3097

E-mail: mars2020-ao@lists.nasa.gov