AN 98-OSS-03

 

ASCA GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM

Cycle 7

 

 

Release Date: June 1, 1998

Proposal Due Date: Midnight (EDT), September 1, 1998

Office of Space Science

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Washington, DC 20546-0001

ASCA GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM

This Announcement solicits observing proposals for participation in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Space Science program to acquire and analyze scientific data from the ASCA satellite (formerly the Astro-D satellite). The ASCA mission is a cooperative X-ray astronomy program between the United States and Japan . ASCA was launched February 20, 1993, and the initial performance verification (PV) phase ended in October, 1993. During the ongoing science operation phase, 15 percent of the observing time is allocated to the United States, and an additional 25 percent is allocated to joint U.S./Japan investigations.

This Announcement is the seventh announcement for the ASCA Guest Observer Program and solicits proposals for observations during the U.S. and collaborative U.S./Japan observing time that will begin in early January, 1999, and last for approximately one year. At least one further opportunity to propose is expected. Letters of Intent to Propose are not required.

The intent of this program is to enhance U.S.-Japanese scientific cooperation in keeping with the bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Japan. Only investigators affiliated with U.S. institutions may propose. Participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, NASA Centers, profit and not-for-profit organizations, and other Government agencies. Proposals may be submitted at any time before the proposal due date. Proposals received after that date will be held for the next review cycle. The proposal review process will be directed by the cognizant discipline scientist at the NASA Office of Space Science. Proposals will be evaluated by scientific peer-review panels and other national and international review committees with a goal of announcing selection by December, 1998. NASA expects 60-100 investigations to be chosen consisting of a mixture of large, medium, and small programs.

Investigators whose observing proposals are chosen will receive the data which results from their proposal in a form suitable for analysis. One year later, the data will be placed in a public archive for other interested investigators.

Interested proposers should be aware that the Announcement for Cycle 7 is only for the selection of observing time for ASCA; no funds are available for support of selected proposals through this Announcement. Budgets are not to be submitted in response to this solicitation. Observers with proposals accepted through this Announcement, as well as researchers using public archival ASCA data involving no new observations, may submit funding proposals to the NASA Astrophysics Data Program (ADP), a formal announcement for which will be made in early 1999.

Proposers should note that electronic submission of proposal text is required, and paper copies are not required. See Appendix C for details.

Further details relevant to this program are included in the Appendices to this Announcement. This Announcement, its Appendices, and supporting technical documents may be downloaded directly via the World Wide Web, or they may be obtained via anonymous file transfer protocol (ftp), at the addresses given below. Individuals not having access to the Internet may request paper copies of the Announcement and reference documents at the address given below.

IDENTIFIER: AN 98-OSS-03

PROPOSAL DUE DATE: Midnight (EDT), September 1, 1998

NUMBER REQUIRED: Electronic text and form submission only

SUBMIT PROPOSALS TO:

        VIA ANONYMOUS FTP:      lheaftp.gsfc.nasa.gov
        User name:  anonymous
        Directory:  /pub/rps/ASCA/

        VIA THE WWW:    http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/RPS/ASCA/RPS.pl

OBTAIN ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMATIC INFORMATION FROM:

        Dr. Paul Hertz 
        Research Program Management Division 
        Code SR 
        Office of Space Science 
        National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
        Washington, DC 20546-0001 
        TEL: (202) 358-0351, FAX: (202) 358-3097 
        paul.hertz@hq.nasa.gov 

DIRECT ASCA TECHNICAL QUESTIONS TO:

        Dr. Nicholas E. White
        U.S. ASCA Project Scientist  
        ASCA Guest Observer Facility 
        Code 662 
        Goddard Space Flight Center 
        National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
        Greenbelt, MD 20771-0001 
        TEL: (301) 286-8443, FAX: (301) 286-1684 
        email 

REQUEST PRINTED APPENDICES AND TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION FROM:

        ASCA Guest Observer Facility 
        Code 660.2 
        Goddard Space Flight Center 
        National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
        Greenbelt, MD 20771-0001  
        TEL: (301) 286-2291, FAX: (301) 286-1684 
        ascanra@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov 

RETRIEVE ANNOUNCEMENT AND APPENDICES ELECTRONICALLY FROM: ftp://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/asca/nra_info/
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/asca/ascagof.html
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oss/, Research Opportunities

Your interest and cooperation in participating in the ASCA Guest Observer Program are appreciated.

Alan N. Bunner
Science Program Director
Structure and Evolution of the Universe Office of Space Science

ASCA GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM
Cycle 7

LIST OF APPENDICES

1. ASCA Guest Observer Program Description
2. Additional Information Regarding Proposal Submission, Evaluation, Selection, and Implementation
3. Electronic Proposal Submission And Proposal Preparation Tools

   * “Asuka,” which means “Flying Bird,” is pronounced As’ka, which led to the pun ASCA, standing for ‘Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics.’