CALL FOR LETTERS OF APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP ON THE SCIENCE DEFINITION TEAM FOR THE 2020 MARS SCIENCE ROVER | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

NASA Headquarters issued this call to recruit individual scientists, technologists, and other qualified experts to serve on the Science Definition Team (SDT) for the Mars 2020 rover mission. Mars 2020 is described as a strategic Planetary Science Division mission under NASA's Science Mission Directorate, aligned with the Planetary Science Decadal Survey "Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022." The rover concept and much of its design heritage would build on the Mars Science Laboratory architecture that delivered the Curiosity rover in 2012, but the purpose of this SDT effort was to help NASA define the next mission's scientific direction early, during preliminary concept definition (Pre-Phase A).

The opportunity centers on shaping the mission's baseline science plan for a rover intended to explore an ancient, astrobiologically relevant Martian environment. NASA highlights goals such as understanding geological processes and history, assessing past habitability, and evaluating whether biosignatures could have been preserved in accessible geologic materials. The solicitation also notes NASA's longer-term human exploration ambitions and encourages mission concepts that could accommodate contributed elements aligned with Human Exploration Mission Directorate or Space Technology Program priorities, as long as they remain compatible with the Mars 2020 science priorities (with NASA pointing applicants to relevant MEPAG planning context).

Selected SDT members would be expected to provide hands-on scientific assistance and direction over a short, intensive period. Near-term SDT tasks include establishing baseline mission science objectives, developing a realistic concept of surface operations, assembling a "strawman" payload or instrument suite as a proof-of-concept, and proposing threshold science objectives and measurements for a preferred mission that remains feasible within NASA Headquarters resource constraints. A key outcome is that SDT products would be used by NASA to craft a future Science Mission Directorate Announcement of Opportunity (AO), which would formally solicit competed investigations and payload-based science in an open competition. Importantly, NASA states that SDT reports and outputs would be publicly available, and the SDT would be disbanded before any later AO for Mars 2020 participation, including instrumentation and investigation support, reducing concerns about overlap between early definition work and later competitive selections.

Participation was open and broadly eligible: the call invites applications from individuals at U.S. institutions and elsewhere, with no cost-sharing requirement. However, the response mechanism is not a typical research proposal or team submission. Applicants had to submit an individual Letter of Application, and NASA explicitly would not consider group applications, collaborations, or teams. Letters were limited to two pages, using 11-point font and 1-inch margins, and were preferred by email though regular mail or fax were also permitted.

NASA planned to select approximately 12 to 15 SDT members plus an SDT Chair. Selections would be made by NASA Headquarters senior officials from among letter respondents and other qualified candidates. Applicants were expected to demonstrate expertise directly relevant to Mars 2020's primary scientific goals and the enabling technologies and instrumentation. The letter needed to present clear evidence of that expertise, and it could include brief references to peer-reviewed scientific or technical publications establishing the applicant's leadership in the field. Applicants also needed to confirm their time availability over the next three to six months, calling out any schedule constraints, because the SDT's work was substantial and compressed. Applicants could also indicate interest in serving as chair or co-chair. NASA noted that the Mars 2020 Program Scientist, the Mars Exploration Program Lead Scientist, and potentially other agency representatives would participate as ex officio SDT members.

The SDT was scheduled to be formed in January 2013 and to complete its work in roughly four months. The deadline for Letters of Application was January 10, 2013. Submissions were to be directed to Dr. Mitch Schulte at NASA Headquarters (Planetary Sciences Division, Science Mission Directorate), with contact options provided by phone, fax, and email at mars2020_sdt@lists.hq.nasa.gov. NASA emphasized standard federal solicitation cautions: issuing the call did not obligate NASA to accept any applications, and any costs incurred by applicants in preparing and submitting a letter were the applicants' responsibility.

In the posted opportunity metadata, this solicitation is identified as Funding Opportunity Number NNH13ZDA003L under CFDA 43.001 (Science), categorized under science and technology and other research and development, with funding instrument types listed as cooperative agreement and grant. The posted date was December 20, 2012, with the same closing date of January 10, 2013, and an archive date of December 20, 2013. For access issues or general help, the notice lists points of contact including Dr. Max Bernstein (sara@nasa.gov) and NAIS Support (nais.support@nasa.gov), and it notes that the SDT charter would be posted on NASA's SARA website.

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