MIDEX Announcements

December 19, 2003

• Policy Changes planned for the 2004 MIDEX Announcement of Opportunity

  For a MIDEX, the NASA OSS Cost is limited to $170M in Fiscal Year 2005 dollars, including funding for all phases and all elements except for NASA provided launch services.

  Basic launch services on a Taurus or Delta II expendable launch vehicle will be provided at no charge against the NASA OSS Cost cap. There will be a charge of $9M (FY05) against the NASA OSS Cost cap for Delta II-H launch services. There will also be a charge against the NASA OSS Cost cap for mission unique services beyond the basic services offered. Contributed launch services and launch vehicles are not solicited, nor are secondary or co-manifested payloads on commercial or larger ELVs.

  The Space Shuttle transportation, standard services, and special services costs required for ISS-attached payloads will be provided at no charge against the NASA OSS Cost cap. There will be a charge against the NASA OSS Cost cap for special services (mission uniques).

  The duration of the competitive Phase A period has been lengthened to 11 months and the funding during Phase A will be $1M for a MIDEX. The expectation is that additional trade studies and risk reduction will take place during the lengthened Phase A.

  At the investigation's Confirmation Review to enter Implementation (Phase C), the PI will be required to demonstrate a minimum unencumbered cost reserve of 25% or larger, commensurate with mission complexity and risk. Funded schedule reserves, in addition to the cost reserve, commensurate with mission complexity and risk, are required. No rephasing of Phase E costs to Phase C/D will be permitted after Confirmation.

  International Letters of Endorsement (LOEs) are due at the same time as the proposal. LOEs for all contributions must provide evidence that the contributor will commit the appropriate technical, personnel, and funding resources to the proposed investigation if selected by NASA. Proposals without required LOEs will be deemed noncompliant and returned to the proposer without review.

  There are additional requirements for describing any proposed international participation including a discussion of mitigation plans, where possible, for the failure of funding or contributions to materialize when they are outside the control of the PI.

  The weight of the evaluation criteria is approximately: 40% for scientific merit of the proposed investigation; 30% for scientific implementation merit of the proposed investigation; and 30% for technical, management, and cost feasibility, including cost risk, of the proposed investigation.

  NASA particularly welcomes comments on these changes in policy. All comments should be directed to the Explorer Program Scientist. Comments are preferred in writing and may be sent by fax or E-mail; the character string "MIDEX DRAFT AO" (without quotes) should be included in the subject line of all transmissions.

       Dr. Paul Hertz
       Explorer Program Scientist
       Scientist, Code SZ
       Office of Space Science
       National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
       Washington, DC 20546-0001
       U.S.A.
       Tel.:  (202) 358-0986 
       FAX: (202) 358-3097
       E-mail: paul.hertz@hq.nasa.gov