The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters is releasing a NASA Research Announcement (NRA) for foundational research in support of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). NNH08ZEA001N, entitled "Research Opportunities in Aeronautics will be available on or about March 3, 2008, by opening the NASA Research Opportunities homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ and then linking through the menu listings "Solicitations" to "Open Solicitations." This NASA Research Announcement (NRA) solicits fundamental research proposals for the four programs within ARMD: the Airspace Systems Program, the Aviation Safety Program, the Fundamental Aeronautics Program and the Aeronautics Test Program. The Airspace Systems Program will directly address the Air Traffic Management (ATM) research needs of the Next Generation Air Transportation Systems (NextGen) initiative as defined by the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO). The Aviation Safety Program will take a proactive approach to safety challenges with new and current vehicles operating in the Nations current and future air transportation system. The Fundamental Aeronautics Program will pursue long-term, cutting edge research in all flight regimes to produce data, knowledge, and design tools that will be applicable across a broad range of air vehicles that fly through any atmosphere at any speed. The Aeronautics Test Program (ATP) is focused on ensuring a healthy suite of facilities and platforms to meet the nations testing needs including the development of new test instrumentation and test technologies. The structure of the ROA NRA will require that proposals be submitted to the most relevant aeronautics program elements, which will be described in Appendices to the NRA. Specific Proposal submission deadline dates, any particular evaluation criteria, and submission points of contact will also be identified in the NRA Appendices. Proposals must be submitted electronically, and all proposers may use NASAs proposal data system, NSPIRES (http://nspires.nasaprs.com), or Grants.gov. In addition, the electronic proposals must be submitted by an authorized official of the proposing organization. With the exception of government organizations and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, industry and nonprofit organizations. 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) to familiarize themselves with its structure and enter the requested information. As topic areas are released further information about specific program elements will be available. The individual Program Officers and assigned Contracting Officers will be listed in the Summary of Key Information for each program element. Individual program elements under this solicitation may be found by using the Advanced Search method in Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov/search/advanced.do). In the "Search by Funding Opportunity Number" box, enter the ROA solicitation number of NNH08ZEA001N followed by an * (i.e., NNH08ZEA001N*). This will result in a list of all posted program elements. Use the funding number associated with the program element you wish to apply for to download the application package. Further information about specific program elements may be obtained from the individual Program Questions concerning general NRA policies and procedures may be directed to Jay Dryer, Senior Technical Advisor, NASA Headquarters, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, email:
[email protected]. This is a broad agency announcement as specified in FAR 35.016 and NFS 1835.016. Notwithstanding the posting of this opportunity at FedBizOpps.gov, Grants.gov, or at both sites, NASA reserves the right to determine the appropriate award instrument for each proposal selected pursuant to this announcement.