ROSBio Appendix F: Solicitation of Proposals to Conduct Research on Antarctic Balloon Flights | NNH16ZTT001N AB

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NASA Headquarters released ROSBio Appendix F (Solicitation Number NNH16ZTT001N-AB) under the broader Research Opportunities in Space Biology (ROSBio) 2016 omnibus NRA (NNH16ZTT001N). The opportunity focuses on space biology research that can take advantage of Antarctic scientific balloon flights to study radiation effects on living systems in a near-space environment. The core idea is to use balloon-based exposure conditions that more closely resemble aspects of deep-space radiation than typical ground settings, and to translate what is learned into knowledge that supports human exploration and broader space life sciences goals.

The solicitation invites proposals for biological experiments that can fly as secondary payloads on balloon missions managed through NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility. Because these are piggyback payloads, investigators are not proposing a dedicated balloon mission; instead, they are proposing compact, flight-compatible experiments that can integrate with an existing balloon campaign. For teams selected for funding, flight opportunities and mission integration are arranged with support from the NASA Payload Development Team, which coordinates how secondary payloads are manifested, integrated, and flown alongside the primary payloads.

From a science standpoint, the announcement is specifically aimed at understanding how radiation exposures similar to those encountered beyond low Earth orbit affect biological systems. The eligible biological targets are broad and include cell culture, invertebrate animal models, plants, algae, and microorganisms. In practice, that means proposals could range from cellular and molecular assays (for example, DNA damage, repair pathways, oxidative stress responses, gene expression changes, or mutational signatures) to organism-level outcomes in hardy model organisms, to studies of how photosynthetic or microbial systems respond to high-altitude radiation environments. Regardless of the model, proposals are expected to align with NASA Space Biology priorities as laid out in the ROSBio-2016 omnibus NRA, the Space Biology Science Plan 2016-2025, and/or relevant Decadal Survey recommendations, so the work should be clearly tied to NASA's strategic questions rather than being a generic high-altitude biology study.

NASA indicated an intent to make up to five awards. Each award could run for a maximum period of three years, with a total budget cap of $300,000 per award including both direct and indirect costs. The budget is intended to cover the full scope of the effort, not just science analysis, so teams need to account for hardware development and fabrication, testing and verification for flight, travel, operations participation as needed, post-flight sample handling, and data analysis. Awards are expected to be issued as grants or cooperative agreements, consistent with this being a broad agency announcement under FAR 6.102(d)(2).

The schedule provided in the opportunity is explicit. The appendix was released on August 16, 2017. A non-binding Notice of Intent was due September 14, 2017 by 5:00 PM Eastern Time, and full proposals were due October 16, 2017 by 5:00 PM Eastern Time. NASA projected an estimated selection date of March 15, 2018. The technical proposal section was limited to 15 pages, which puts pressure on applicants to be clear about the science rationale, experiment design, flight implementation approach, and how the results will address NASA space biology objectives.

Eligibility is broad across U.S. institutions: essentially any category of U.S. organization could apply, consistent with the listing indicating unrestricted eligibility (with any clarifications controlled by the solicitation text). The program also allows collaboration across sectors, including universities, federal laboratories, private industry, and state or local government laboratories. International collaboration is permitted with the stated exception of China. As with many NASA NRAs, proposals must be submitted electronically by an authorized organizational official, and applicants could submit through either NSPIRES (NASA's proposal system) or Grants.gov. Organizations were required to be registered in NSPIRES in advance, including identification of the authorized organizational representative(s), and each proposal required registration details for the principal investigator and any other participants such as co-investigators. The solicitation strongly encouraged teams to start system registration and data entry early to avoid submission issues near the deadline.

For applicants looking for the official posting, NASA directed proposers to find Appendix F through the NASA Research Opportunities homepage in NSPIRES by navigating to Solicitations and then Open Solicitations (with a shortened link also provided in the notice: https://tinyurl.com/ROSBio-AB). Programmatic questions were routed to Dr. David L. Tomko, Program Scientist for Space Biology at NASA Headquarters (dtomko@nasa.gov, 202-358-2211), while contracting and award-related questions were directed to Benjamin S. Benvenutti, Lead Contract Specialist at the NASA Shared Services Center (benjamin.s.benvenutti@nasa.gov, 228-813-6128).

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA Headquarters in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "ROSBio Appendix F: Solicitation of Proposals to Conduct Research on Antarctic Balloon Flights" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.003.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 16, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 16, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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