ROSES-CADET

C.21 CITIZEN SCIENCE ASTEROID DATA, EDUCATION AND TOOLS
NOTICE: Amended May 5, 2015. This Amendment presents a new call as
program element C.21, Citizen science Asteroid Data, Education, and Tools
(CADET).
Proposals to this program will be taken by a two-step process, in which the
Notice of Intent is replaced by a required Step-1 proposal submitted by an
organization Authorized Organizational Representative. No PDF upload is
required for the Step-1 proposal. Step-1 proposers merely must fill in the
Proposal Summary text box on the NSPIRES cover pages. Only proposers
who submit a Step-1 proposal are eligible to submit a Step-2 (full) proposal.
Step-1 proposals are due by June 15, 2015, and Step-2 proposals are due on
July 15 2015. See Section 3 for details.
1. Scope of Program
The Near Earth Objects (NEO) Program within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD)
coordinates NASA-sponsored efforts to detect, track, and characterize potentially hazardous
asteroids and comets that could approach the Earth. With over 90% of the near-Earth objects
larger than one kilometer already discovered, the NEO Program is now focusing on finding 90%
of the NEO population larger than 140 meters. In addition to managing the detection and
cataloging of Near-Earth objects, the NEO Program Office is responsible for facilitating
communications between the astronomical community and the public, should any potentially
hazardous objects be discovered.
The goal of the Asteroid Grand Challenge (AGC) is to "find all asteroid threats to human
population and know what to do about them." The AGC program within NASA’s Office of the
Chief Technologist (OCT) coordinates with and enhances NASA-sponsored asteroid efforts by
engaging nontraditional partners, such as the private sector, non-Governmental organizations,
coders, amateur astronomers, citizen scientists, do it yourself scientists and engineers, and the
public, to collaboratively meet this challenge through open science and open innovation. AGC
provides adaptation and application of emerging open science and open innovation concepts,
methodologies, technologies, etc. to demonstrate their feasibility and potential to increase
science return, as well as to inform missions and research disciplines of promising techniques
and capabilities worthy of broader application and/or further development through full maturity.
The Citizen science Asteroid Data, Education, and Tools (CADET), a joint solicitation of the
NEO and AGC programs, seeks innovative proposals to adapt, develop, and web-enable software
tools for asteroid data analysis and to make them accessible and easily usable by
nonprofessionals, including amateur astronomers, students, and citizen scientists.
The specific goals of the CADET program are to:
• Through agile development and other innovative methods, adapt, further develop, and
web-enable asteroid data analysis software to increase the productivity of NEO and AGC
research endeavors and extend the state-of-the practice in those endeavors;
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• Develop easily usable and understandable software tools though the application of
human-centered design best practices, including user research studies, systematic
usability testing, and evaluation;
• Integrate advances in information technology with advances in cyberlearning (i.e., what
is known about how people learn with technology), and integrate these software tools into
learning environments so their potential is fulfilled; and
• Foster multidisciplinary collaborations that span the NASA science, computer science,
design, and education disciplines.
1.1 Software Tool Development and Validation
This program element supports the adaptation, development, and dissemination of web-enabled
software tools for asteroid data analysis that would facilitate the use of existing datasets, enable
or enhance future science investigations of interest to the Near Earth Objects Program, and make
these software tools open source, web-accessible, and easily useable by nonprofessionals,
including high school and college students, amateur astronomers, citizen scientists, and other
members of the public.
At minimum, the web-enabled software tool will enable the user to perform the following tasks,
the first two of which should use an automated algorithm:
• Astrometry: Solve an image for the positions of the stars and moving objects within it.
Allow the processing of batches of images.
• Photometry: Provide relative photometry for the moving objects within an image using
reference stars from standard catalogs. Also allow the processing of batches of images.
• Light curve analysis: Provide a virtual workbench for the user to create asteroid light
curves from the derived photometric values and determine the spin period of the asteroid.
This analysis must take into account the particulars of asteroid light curves, such as, but
not limited to, light-time correction and the phase angle effect on brightness. The
software must produce, at a minimum, and in addition to data files with the results of the
analyzed light curve, an image of the folded light curve that is suitable for publication in
a scientific journal.
NEO and AGC do not support extensive application of these tools, but it is expected that the
validity and usability of these tools by nonprofessionals will be demonstrated during the course
of the proposed work. Proposals are expected to include a plan to disseminate the tools for use by
a wide audience, including students, amateur astronomers, citizen scientists, and the planetary
science community. In addition to any other dissemination mechanisms, investigators developing
software tools are required to archive the source code, and all relevant documentation, at
NASA’s Github site (https://github.com/nasa). It is expected that user interfaces and/or
executables will be made publically available at no cost.
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2. Programmatic Information
Sections 2.3 and 2.4 of this solicitation provide additional details governing the proposed
activities that supersede the general guidelines announced in the Summary of Solicitation of
ROSES-2015. Awards will commence with Fiscal Year 2016 funds.
2.1 Periods of Performance
Because of the rapidly changing computing and computation technology environment, awards
resulting from this call are limited to a performance period of 24 months or less. Annual reviews
will be held according to the criteria in the NASA Grants and Cooperative Agreement Handbook
(14 CFR 1260). Proposals must define clear, measureable milestones to be achieved for each
year of performance in order to warrant continuation of the second year.
2.2 Program Constraints
The program will encourage direct collaborations between proposals and NEO and AGC
partners. The tools and capabilities resulting from CADET investigations are expected to be
available for open use as web-based applications and as available open source code. Plans for
migration into a persistent software framework or infrastructure for ongoing maintenance and
user support should be identified. Proposals should discuss plans for this, even if the project is
not expected to reach that level of maturity in the term of the award.
2.3 Evaluation and Selection of Proposals
Evaluation criteria for this solicitation are given in Section C.2 of the NASA Guidebook for
Proposers. One or more peer review panels will evaluate all of the proposals.
In addition to the factors given in the NASA Guidebook for Proposers, the evaluation criterion
"intrinsic merit" specifically includes the following factor:
• Clear objectives for the investigation and clear description of the capabilities expected to
result.
In addition to including the perceived relevance of the proposed work to this call, the evaluation
criterion "relevance to NASA’s strategic goals and objectives" specifically includes:
• Success criteria for the investigation and potential benefits and impact on NASA science
and education.
In addition to the factors given in the NASA Guidebook for Proposers, the evaluation criterion
"cost realism" specifically includes the factor:
• Quality and suitability of the work plan and schedule, including task breakdown, staffing,
and other resources.
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2.3.1 Agile Software Development and Human Centered-Design
Proposals must include an agile software development and testing plan to describe the software
engineering practice to be used in the project. Proposals also must address how they will develop
and document user personas (e.g., high school and college students, amateur astronomers, and
professional astronomers), engage end users in the iterative testing and evaluation of the software
tool, and how they will meet staffing expertise, as appropriate, including user experience (UX)
design, user interface (UI) development, and web application development. The proposal will be
considered unresponsive without this plan.
2.4 Compliance
Because scientific software is typically built piece by piece over multiple funding cycles and
with different teams, the software developed under this Program Element must be designated and
distributed to the public as open source software. The use of Apache License 2.0 is required.
Any proposal responding to this solicitation to adapt, develop, and web-enable the asteroid data
analysis software is required to deliver to NASA a copy of such software with sufficient rights
for use as Open Source Software under this Apache License 2.0.
Therefore, each proposal shall:
• Identify any proprietary software, software owned by a non-Federal entity, or open
source software that is incorporated into the software being proposed;
• Indicate whether a license has been obtained in situations where proprietary software,
software owned by a non-Federal entity, or open source software has been incorporated
into the software that is the subject of the proposal and attach a copy of the license to the
proposal, along with evidence of permission obtained from the software owner to release
improvements or derivative works to the software as Open Source under the Apache
License, Version 2.0.
NASA will evaluate proposals for compliance with the above open source software
requirements. A proposal that does not include documentation sufficient to satisfy NASA that the
developed software will be open source may not be selected.
2.5 Funding and Awards
The Government’s obligation to make award(s) is contingent upon the availability of
appropriated funds from which payment can be made and the receipt of proposals that NASA
determines are acceptable for award under this solicitation. No additional funds beyond
negotiated award value will be available.
All selected proposals will result in the award of a cooperative agreement and will be subject to
the provisions of the NASA Grants and Cooperative Agreement handbook. Please review the
handbook for any potential consequences for cost sharing because of the cooperative agreement
arrangement.
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It is expected that approximately $200,000 per year will be available to support new
investigations selected through this solicitation. This funding will be awarded for up to two
proposed projects. As always, new awards will also depend on the available Fiscal Year (FY)
2016 budget.
Because this is a new program, NASA does not have historical data (e.g., on award sizes) to
guide proposers. In designing the scope and budget of the proposed project, proposers are
encouraged to request what is actually needed to conduct the proposed work, keeping in mind the
budget given above.
2.6 Reporting Requirements
All CADET projects are required to submit a quarterly technical report, which focuses on the
preceding three months’ efforts. Each report should be no longer than four pages and shall
address:
• Technical status: The Principal Investigator (PI) shall summarize accomplishments for
the preceding three months, including technical accomplishments (user study results,
requirements analysis, design, etc.), technology development results, and results of tests
and/or demonstrations.
• Schedule status: The PI shall address the status of major tasks and the variance from
planned versus actual schedule, including tasks completed, tasks in process, tasks
expected to complete later than planned, and tasks that are delayed in starting, with
rationale for each, and recovery plans, as appropriate.
• Software engineering status: The PI shall cover how the software engineering and testing
plans have been followed, including software engineering documents generated during
the performing period, issues tracking, continuous integration, configuration
management, and software testing status.
• Financial status: The PI shall report the financial status (e.g., invoicing the Government
against the budget) and compare to the budget plan.
Quarterly Technical Reports shall be submitted in PDF, Microsoft Word, or PowerPoint
compatible formats by the required due date or by close of business of the first workday
following the due date, if the due date falls on a weekend or a holiday. A teleconference, Google
Hangout (or similar), or brief meeting may be conducted between NASA and the PI to review
and discuss each report and associated wireframes or working prototypes.
3. Proposal Submission
Proposals shall be submitted electronically via the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated
Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) web page or via Grants.gov, as described in NASA’s
Guidebook for Proposers. Proposals submitted after the due date will not be evaluated.
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To facilitate the early recruitment of a conflict-free review panel, given the nature of the new
calls, and to ensure proposals are submitted to the appropriate program, this program will use a
two-step proposal submission process.
A Step-1 proposal is required and must be submitted electronically by the Authorized
Organizational Representative (AOR). No budget is required. Only proposers who submit a Step-
1 proposal are eligible to submit a Step-2 proposal. Full (Step-2) proposals must broadly contain
the same scientific goals proposed in the Step-1 proposal. The PI cannot be adjusted and
proposers that want to add funded investigators between the Step-1 and Step-2 proposals must
inform the point(s) of contact below and cc sara@nasa.gov at least two weeks in advance of the
Step-2 due date. Submission of the Step-1 proposal does not obligate the proposer to submit a
Step-2 (full) proposal later.
Proposers should refer to the "Instructions for Submitting a Step-1 Proposal" under "Other
Documents" on the NSPIRES web page for this program. The Scientific/Technical/Management
section of the Step-1 proposal is restricted to the 4000 character Proposal Summary text box on
the NSPIRES web interface cover pages and should include a brief description of the goals and
objectives to be addressed by the proposal, the methodology to be used, and the relevance of the
proposed research to this call. The Step-1 proposal may be used to determine whether the
proposal was submitted to the appropriate program element. No evaluation of intrinsic merit will
be done on Step-1 proposals.
NSPIRES will notify proposers whether their Step-2 proposal is encouraged or not, at which
point they will be able to submit Step-2 proposals.
All Step-2 proposals submitted must strictly conform to the formatting rules in ROSES (e.g.,
Section IV of the Summary of Solicitation) and Chapter 2 of the NASA Guidebook for Proposers.
Where ROSES differs from The Guidebook, ROSES takes precedence. Proposals that do not
conform may be rejected without review. In previous years, problems with the following aspects
of formatting proposals have been noted. Proposers should pay particular attention to:
• Length of the Scientific/Technical/Management section: 5 pages maximum.
• Margins: 1 inch on all sides, with a standard page size of 8.5 × 11 inches.
• Font: Section 2 of the NASA Guidebook for Proposers requires easily read fonts having,
on average, no more than 15 characters per inch (e.g., 12-point Times New Roman and
Ariel). Proposers may not adjust the character spacing or otherwise condense a font from
its default appearance.
• Line spacing: Font and line-spacing settings should produce text that contains no more
than 5.5 lines per inch. Proposers may not adjust line-spacing settings for a selected font
below single-spaced.
• Figure captions: Must follow the same font and spacing rules as the main text.
• Figures and tables: For text in figures and tables, the font and spacing rules listed above
are not required, but all text must be judged to be legible to reviewers without
magnification above 100%. Do not place expository text in tables or figures in order to
gain space.
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4. Summary of Key Information
Expected program budget for first
year of new awards
~$200,000
Number of new awards pending
adequate proposals of merit
1-2 projects
Maximum duration of awards 2 years
Due date for Step-1 proposals See Tables 2 and 3 in the Summary of Solicitation of this
NRA.
Due date for Step-2 proposals See Tables 2 and 3 in the Summary of Solicitation of this
NRA.
Planning date for start of
investigation
Three months after proposal due date.
Page limit for the central Science-
Technical-Management section of
proposal
5 pp maximum.
Relevance This program is relevant to the Near Earth Observation
and Asteroid Grand Challenge questions and goals in the
NASA Science Plan. Proposals that are relevant to this
program are, by definition, relevant to NASA.
General information and overview
of this solicitation
See the ROSES Summary of Solicitation.
Detailed instructions for the
preparation and submission of
proposals
See the NASA Guidebook for Proposers at
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/nraguideboo
k/.
Submission medium Electronic proposal submission is required; no hard copy
is required or permitted. See Section IV of the ROSES
Summary of Solicitation and Chapter 3 of the NASA
Guidebook for Proposers.
Web site for submission of
proposal via NSPIRES
http://nspires.nasaprs.com/ (help desk available at
nspires-help@nasaprs.com or (202) 479-9376)
Web site for submission of
proposals via Grants.gov
http://grants.gov (help desk available at
support@grants.gov or (800) 518-4726)
Funding opportunity number for
downloading an application
package from Grants.gov
NNH15ZDA001N-CADET
Point of contact concerning this
program
Jason Kessler
Asteroid Grand Challenge
Office of the Chief Technologist
NASA Headquarters
Washington, DC 20546-0001
Telephone: 202-358-1107
E-mail: Jason.l.kessler@nasa.gov
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