INTEGRAL AO-5 Announcement

[Michael Arida <arida@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov>]

March 16, 2007

Dear Colleague,

NASA is pleased to call to the attention of members of the U.S. scientific community the
release by the European Space Agency (ESA) of the "INTEGRAL Announcement of
Opportunity for Observing Proposals" (AO-5), soliciting Guest Observation proposals for
ESA's INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL). The
Announcement solicits proposals for observations to be performed during the 12 month
period from August 16, 2007 to August 15, 2008. Due to the nature of the NASA-ESA
bilateral agreement, this solicitation applies only to scientists affiliated with U.S.
institutions; others are urged to contact ESA directly. U.S. scientists may propose either
as Principal Investigators or as Co-Investigators on foreign P.I. proposals.  The AO may
be accessed directly from ESA, accessible via the following address

http://integral.esac.esa.int/AO5/AO5_LetterDSci.pdf

NASA has instituted an INTEGRAL Guest Observer Facility (GOF) at the Goddard
Space Flight Center (GSFC) as a support center for INTEGRAL activities in the U.S.
Information of interest to U.S. observers, as well as general project information, can be
found at the following address:

http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/integral/integralgof.html

A detailed description of the mission, including instrument capabilities, and additional
information pertaining to the proposal preparation and submission procedures, is also
available via links to the INTEGRAL home page at that address. (Questions concerning
U.S. participation in the INTEGRAL AO-5 program should be addressed to
sturner@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov.)  ESA will be responsible for conducting a peer
review of all submitted proposals, including those from U.S. investigators, and
determining the associated time allocation. Current plans call for ESA to notify proposers
and NASA of the results of the peer review during June, 2007

NASA intends to make funding available for a Guest Observer (GO) program to support
the analysis, interpretation, and publication of data obtained by U.S. proposers who are
granted observing time on INTEGRAL through the ESA AO. The level of funding
available for any approved program will depend on the total funding available, the size
and complexity of the investigation, and on the ultimate number of U.S. investigations
approved by ESA. We anticipate that approximately $1.2M will be available for support
of US Guest Observers. Details regarding the timing and mechanism of NASA's
solicitation for data analysis funding requests will be announced at a later date; please do
not submit a budget with your observing proposal

For additional technical or programmatic information regarding U.S. participation in the
INTEGRAL mission, please contact

Technical Information:	Dr. Steven Sturner
	  		NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
			Code 661
			Greenbelt, MD  20771
			Tel:  (301) 286-8447
			Fax:  (301) 286-1684
			sturner@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov


Programmatic Information
			Dr. F. Rick Harnden, Jr
			NASA INTEGRAL Program Scientist
			Astrophysics Division
			Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
			(202) 358-3809
			frank.r.harnden@nasa.gov

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