ROSBio-2018 Appendix C: Development of Microgravity Food Production: Plant Watering, Volume Management, and Novel Plant Research on the International Space Station

Description

Solicitation Number: NNH18ZTT001N-PT Release Date: June 7, 2019 Pre-Proposal Conference: June 25, 2019 Step 1 Proposals Due: July 5, 2019 Step 2 Proposals Due: September 26, 2019 Research Opportunities in Space Biology (ROSBio) – 2018 “Appendix C: Development of Microgravity Food Production: Plant Watering, Volume Management, and Novel Plant Research on the International Space Station” NNH18ZTT001N-PT This Space Biology Appendix to ROSBio-2018 represents a collaboration between NASA’s Space Life and Physical Science Research and Applications Division (SLPSRAD) and NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems (AES). The goal of this collaboration is to solicit research and development (R&D) projects that will lead to the development of a more reliable water and nutrient delivery approach/concept for growing edible pick-and-eat plants for multiple generations in microgravity, that will eventually lead to new hardware. Through this solicitation, NASA seeks proposals for the integrated research and development of: 1) Edible Plant Water and Nutrient Delivery Systems for Microgravity Spaceflight that will provide sufficiently uniform wetting of the roots, avoid the release of free water, and maintain sufficient aeration and oxygen. 2) Edible Plant Spacing Systems that will optimize the use of plant-growing volume in space. NASA anticipates accomplishing its goal of procuring the development of a reliable space-ready plant water and nutrient delivery system in three distinct phases. Phase-A involves key components and experiments, Phase-B includes prototype development and system investigations, and Phase-C involves demonstration on the ISS. This Appendix is requesting Phase-A proposals only for plant water and nutrient delivery systems, and/or plant spacing systems that can be used in a NASA furnished plant chamber, and may be scaled up to the size of a full rack on the ISS or future spacecraft. Key components for the design should be validated through modeling or performance testing. Preliminary scientific investigations and experiments to validate the system’s successful operation and ability to support future research studies should be included as appropriate. Phase-A Awards will be made as cooperative agreements for up to $225,000 over a performance period of 18 months. The remaining Phases (B and C) will be implemented for a subset of selected Phase-A proposals. Instructions detailing the preparation and submission of a Final Phase-A Document Package, which includes a Phase-A final report and a Phase-B proposal, as well as for preparing and delivering the Phase-A Final Presentation will be provided to Phase-A awardees at a later date. A virtual Pre-proposal conference is scheduled for June 25th 2019, and more details will be posted shortly alongside this solicitation on NSPIRES. Appendix C, which will be released on June 7, 2019 can be found at https://tinyurl.com/NNH18ZTT001N-PT. Step-1 (pre) proposals will be due July 5, 2019 at 5 PM Eastern Time, and invited Step-2 full-length proposals will be due September 26, 2019 at 5 PM Eastern Time. Proposals must be submitted electronically by an authorized official of the proposing organization. Proposers may use either NSPIRES (http://nspires.nasaprs.com/) or Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov) for Step-1 proposal submission. Please see the solicitation for instructions regarding the submission of Step-2 proposals. All categories of U.S. institutions are eligible to submit proposals in response to this Appendix. Principal Investigators (PIs) and collaborators may be from universities, Federal Government laboratories, the private sector, state and local government laboratories and other countries with the exception of China. Every organization that intends to submit a proposal in response to Appendix C must be registered in NSPIRES, and such registration must identify the authorized organizational representative(s) who will submit electronic proposals. Instructions on how to register in NSPIRES are described in the omnibus NRA (ROSBio-2018). Each electronic proposal requires the registration in NSPIRES of the principal investigator and co-investigators. Potential proposers and proposing organizations are urged to access the system(s) well in advance of the proposal due date(s) to familiarize themselves with its structure and enter the requested information. Questions about the ROSBio-2018 and this Appendix may be addressed to the contacts referenced in the full solicitation document. This Appendix will be a broad agency announcement as specified in FAR 6.102 (d)(2). All awards resulting from selections of proposals to this Appendix will be grants or cooperative agreements. Programmatic/Scientific information for this NRA is available from: Molly Anderson Deputy System Capability Lead, Environmental Control and Life Support System Phone: 281-483-9149 NASA Johnson Space Center Email: molly.s.anderson@nasa.gov Dr. David L. Tomko, Program Scientist for Space Biology Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications Division, NASA Headquarters Phone: 202-358-2211 Email: dtomko@nasa.gov NASA award information for this NRA is available from: Theresa Stanley Lead Grant Officer NASA Shared Services Center Phone: (228) 813-6196

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