National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• Introduction to ARK/RPS
• Using ARK/RPS

Introduction to ARK/RPS

ARK/RPS (Remote Proposal System) is a multi-mission tool that facilitates submitting proposals in response to announcements from NASA's Science Mission Directorate. It was adapted from an earlier tool (RPS) used for many years by RXTE, ASCA, CGRO, and ROSAT to allow remote proposal submission via the World Wide Web.

For RXTE, using ARK/RPS to submit proposals electronically is mandatory. The use of ARK/RPS greatly reduces the human resources required to process and check proposals, thereby speeding up the review process considerably.

ARK/RPS enables proposers to submit electronic versions of their proposal forms and then to upload postscript versions of the proposal text. ARK/RPS also verifies data entered into the form, ensuring that they are not misentered, inconsistent or incomplete.

For more information, see the HEASARC's ARK/RPS Home Page. Please send questions and comments about ARK/RPS to the RPS Help Desk.

Using ARK/RPS

Below is a brief outline of how to use ARK/RPS to submit an RXTE proposal. For more details, please see the ARK/RPS Help Page for RXTE.

The general steps for using ARK/RPS are as follows:

1. Create an ARK account and/or join the RXTE group.
2. Fill out the RXTE RPS Web form. A successful proposal includes Cover, General, and Target information.
3. Verify the proposal data for completeness and accuracy. For this, use the Verify button on the RPS form.
4. Submit the proposal forms using the Submit button on the form.
5. Save the proposal forms on your local computer using the Postscript or LaTex buttons on the proposal form. This is not a required step, but we recommend proposers save a copy of these forms for their personal records.
6. Check that your forms submission was successful by consulting your Recent Activity page. You should see summary information for the proposal you just submitted, if the submission was successful.
7. Upload your scientific justification (in PostScript format) from the Recent Activity page in the previous step. Click on the Files button next to the proposal you submitted, then click on the Upload button and follow the instructions.

8. You have now successfully completed your electronic proposal submission However, you may still Modify or Discard your proposal any time before the submission deadline, using the appropriate buttons on the "Recent Activity" page, linked above.
9. For help with any of the above, or futher details, please see the ARK/RPS Help Page for RXTE.

This page is maintained by the RXTE GOF and was last modified on Wednesday, 24-Aug-2022 11:10:32 EDT.