Columbia, MD, July 30, 2008 – The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is offering grants to university faculty and graduate students to support their preparation of proposals in response to a recent NASA call for Concept Studies for Human Tended Suborbital Science.
This NASA call is an amendment to NASA’s 2008 solicitation for Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) and is intended to support investigation of the feasibility of a program to fly government-sponsored payloads and researchers on commercial suborbital systems in order to advance NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) science goals and objectives. (For information on the 2008 ROSES solicitation go to http://nspires.nasaprs.com/, select “Solicitations”, then “Open Solicitations”, then “NNH08ZDA001N”.)
In support of this NASA call, USRA is offering grants to faculty and graduate students to support their development of proposals for concept studies / investigations to perform state-of-the-art experiments in a broad range of areas exploiting the opportunities presented by commercial suborbital flight. USRA anticipates awarding between 10-15 grants of up to $5,000 to graduate students or faculty members to support the submission of proposals for high-quality science in response to this NASA solicitation. USRA awards will be made through the applicants’ universities with preference given to applications from individuals at USRA member universities.
Individuals wishing to apply for USRA support should submit an application that includes 1) the proposer’s name, phone number and email address; 2) the proposer’s university affiliation; 3) a short (1 paragraph) biographical sketch; 4) the project title; 5) a one page summary of the proposed experiment. PLEASE NOTE that all applications from students must be co-signed by a faculty advisor.
Applications should be submitted to USRA by email to HTSEPG@usra.edu. Submissions must be received by 5pm (Eastern Daylight Time), August 22, 2008 in order to be considered for award. Awardees will be notified by August 29, 2008. Any questions concerning this call should be emailed to Questions@usra.edu. Further information on this offering may be found on USRA’s website at www.usra.edu.
About USRA
The Universities Space Research Association, founded in 1969, is a private, nonprofit consortium of 102 universities offering advanced degrees in space- and aeronautics-related disciplines. USRA operates programs and institutions focused on research and education in space related science and engineering disciplines.