Announcement of Opportunity

Concept Studies for Science Instruments for Mars

Released: May 2003

1.1 Objective of the AO

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is actively pursuing opportunities to collaborate with international partners in the exploration of Mars. As all Mars missions are planned to carry scientific payloads and given that science is the main driver for Mars exploration, the strength of Canadian participation in future Mars exploration missions must be based on strong scientific objectives with competent teams that support these scientific objectives and possess the necessary excellence.

As the international Mars exploration community prepares for the continued exploration of Mars, the CSA wishes to encourage the Canadian science community to develop a set of competitive science instruments that are ready to be proposed on future missions to Mars. The objective of this announcement of opportunity (AO) is to begin to develop this inventory of candidate payloads for future missions.

1.2 Scope of the AO

The scope of this AO is limited to Concept Studies that examines the feasibility of a proposed science instrument. It is the first step in a space project plan and does not guarantee the creation of an actual space instrument. After the Concept Studies are finished, the CSA will evaluate if the project will continue on to the following phase based on a number of factors. No actual hardware manufacturing will be financed in the scope of this Concept Study with the exception described in section 2.2 of this AO.

Specifically welcome as proposals in response to this solicitation are concepts for instruments that cover the following categories:

1. Instruments studying the surface and subsurface of Mars from Mars orbit.
2. Instruments studying the atmosphere/ionosphere/magnetosphere of Mars from Mars orbit.
3. Instruments studying the geology and geophysics of Mars from the Martian surface.
4. Instruments studying the atmosphere of Mars from the Martian surface, including dust, aerosols, weather, temperature, humidity, and the radiation environment.
5. Instruments studying the habitability of Mars, either past or present (exobiology), including the search for surface/subsurface water or ice.
6. Instruments using a mission as an opportunity to study other aspects of Mars research (Phobos/Deimos studies, in-transit instrumentation, etc.).

Examples of instruments eligible for support under this solicitation include, but are not limited to:

• Spectrometers
• Radiation sensors
• Pressure, Temperature, Humidity sensors
• Laser-based instruments for science
• Radiometers
• Particle Analysers
• Imagers
• Wind sensors
• Cameras
• Magnetometers
• Ultrastable oscillators
• Radar sounding instrumentation
• Seismic sounding instrumentation
• Radar imaging instrumentation
• Chemical analysis instrumentation
• Measurement while drilling instrumentation
• Down-hole logging instrumentation
• Astrobiology instrumentation
• Wet chemical laboratory instrumentation
• Heavy element analysis
• Organic analyses
• Instrumentation determining the suitability for future in-situ resource utilization, including applications in plant biology
• Transponders for radio science
• Diffractometers
• Spectral imagers for solid samples
• Gamma ray detectors
• Gamma ray detectors
• Electrical resistivity instrumentation
• Magnetometers
• Gradiometers
• Gas analysers

It is important to note that this solicitation is to be limited strictly to develop instruments or instrument packages and experiments, and not to develop mission concepts or mission infrastructure. Specifically excluded from this solicitation are propulsion systems, communications systems, power systems, robotics, rovers, drills, spacecraft, landing systems, launch systems, avionics, guidance, navigation, and control systems, and other mission infrastructure systems or subsystems. Proposals will be disqualified if the concept proposed is clearly not that of a scientific instrument.

Proposed concepts need not have a target mission associated with it to qualify. However, showing consistency with the scientific objectives of planned missions, if applicable, such as NASA's Mars Science Laboratory or ESA's Exo-Mars mission is requested.

• Link to Exo-mars info:
  http://spaceflight.esa.int/users/file.cfm?filename=coord-ao-exomars
• Link 1 to MSL info:
  http://www.hq.nasa.gov/mars/documents/SDTreport.pdf
• Link 2 to MSL info:
  http://www.hq.nasa.gov/mars/documents/SDTApdx.pdf

Relevance to the interests of the Canadian science community will be viewed positively in the evaluation process. The science community's priorities are voiced through solicitations like these and through the Canadian Space Exploration Workshops (CSEW). Summaries of CSEW3 and CSEW4 are available at the links below.

• Link to csew3:
  http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/csa_sectors/space_science/
  space_exploration/csew3.asp
• Link to csew4:
  http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/csa_sectors/space_science/
  space_exploration/csew4.asp

2.1 Funding/Budget

For the purposes of this solicitation, a limited number of contracts will be considered for funding, up to a maximum level of support of $125, 000 [CDN] per study contract (including overhead, benefits, etc., but excluding GST). The number of contracts awarded as a result of this solicitation will depend on the availability of funds. No more than eight (8) contracts will be awarded as a result of this solicitation.

The proposed budget and schedule/milestones for the duration of the study must be provided.

This procurement is limited to Canadian goods and Canadian services and it is mandatory that the services value be a minimum of 80% Canadian.

2.2 Concept Study Details

• The starting date for each study contract will nominally be October 1, 2003 and the end of the contract will nominally be December 31, 2004.
• The scope of this concept study involves general preparation of Canadian science instruments for Mars, that is to say, a "paper study". Therefore, support for such activities as generating ideas, instrument feasibility studies, team development (travel, attending meetings, etc), and planning will be considered for funding. Hardware development, prototyping, or field trials will only be supported for instruments that have already received support from CSA for concept studies in the past, are in a mature state by virtue of other support, or if the funding for these activities is proposed to come from sources other than from CSA.
• Three principal methods of Canadian participation in science instruments are envisioned, as follows. Each of these is eligible for support under this AO.
  • As a participating individual scientist on an international team
  • As a participating Canadian team on an international concept definition team for a science instrument
  • As a mostly Canadian team preparing a concept for a candidate science instrument
• Proposals must include a provision for travel funds for a kick-off meeting at a central location of the proposer's choice (in Canada), and for a final presentation at CSA headquarters in St-Hubert.
• Contributions from partners to the study (e.g. industrial - government - university - international partnerships) will be viewed positively in the selection process.

2.3 Eligibility

• No advanced or support studies will be supported as part of this AO. A separate solicitation is envisaged for this purpose at a later date.
• Only those concept studies that fall within the scope and objective of this AO shall be considered eligible.

3.1 Proposal Format

The following format must be followed for the proposals being submitted. Additional sections may be added as an appendix. Omitting any section will disqualify the proposal.

1. Title page - includes title of proposal, name and contact information of the principle investigator(s), name of institution(s), date, any other relevant information. Maximum 1 page.
2. Abstract - executive summary suitable for publication on a CSA web page if the proposal is selected for a contract award. Should not include budget information and should be suitable for the general public interested in technical aspects of space science. Maximum 1 page.
3. Background - scientific justification for the proposed work, including references. Maximum 3 pages.
4. Relevance to Space Exploration Science - How is this of benefit to the Canadian Space Exploration Science Program? Maximum 2 pages.
5. Objectives - expected outcome of the proposed work. Maximum 2 pages.
6. Method - How will the objectives be achieved? Address each participant's responsibilities and attach a resume for each participant (co-investigators) as an appendix. Maximum 5 pages.
7. Schedule and Milestones - What is the expected timeline for the project and how will this progress be measured (list of tasks and deliverables)? Maximum 3 pages.
8. Proposed budget - Clearly indicate all resources to be supported under this contract, and all resources being supported from other sources, if applicable. Provide a breakdown of all costs, including salary, rate, and estimated time per person. Fiscal year breakdown must also be provided (fiscal year is April 1 to March 31). Maximum 3 pages.
9. Supporting documents - NSERC personal data form or equivalent for each team member (co-investigator) MUST be included, as well as a letter of endorsement of the proposal from each team member; other relevant information is optional. No maximum number of pages defined for this section.
10. References - no maximum number of pages defined for this section.
11. Self-evaluation - proposals MUST include a list of the 6 evaluation criteria below, which includes a maximum of 100 words describing a self-evaluation for each criterion. A numerical self-score is optional; however, the qualitative self-evaluation must be included as part of the proposal.

All proposals must be complete in the manner described in the Proposal Format section. All aspects of the work, from the development of any hardware or software to the analysis and publication of the results, must be included in the budget and incorporated in the schedule. Thus, elements such as travel to meetings, overhead costs, applicable third party support, transportation, data acquisition, dissemination, and archiving etc. must be included in the proposal.

3.2 Evaluation and Selection Criteria

An internal review panel will make a 'go/no go' assessment of the proposal based on conformity to the terms of this AO, including completeness, technical feasibility, the likelihood of success, and the overall financial envelope of the Canadian Space Science Program before proposals are sent to external referees. Each proposal that passes the internal review may also, at the discretion of the CSA, not be sent to external referees. In all cases, the final selection will be made by the CSA.

After proposals have passed the initial screening process described in the above paragraph, the remaining proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria (with approximate weighting) for all categories. The proposals with the highest overall score will be the winning proposals:

3.3 Proposal Submission

Electronic transmission is the preferred method of submission, although proposals sent by facsimile or regular post will also be accepted. For electronic and facsimile submissions, a single copy of the proposal is sufficient. Hard copy submissions require five copies, at least one of which is unbound. Proposals must use a standard 12-point or greater font size. All submissions must be received by 16:00 EST on July 4, 2003. Late proposals will not be considered.

All proposals must be addressed to:

Dr. David Kendall
Space Science Program
Canadian Space Agency
6767 route de l'Aéroport
Saint-Hubert, Quebec, J3Y 8Y9

Fax: (450) 926-4766

Electronic submissions: MS Word, WordPerfect or ASCII documents are acceptable, pdf files are preferred, either as mail attachments or via ftp. For email submissions or for questions relating to electronic submission, please use: . Please allow three business days for response to these emails.

Personal data forms and supporting letters may be sent separately but must arrive within one week of the proposal deadline.

3.4 Distribution of this AO

This Announcement of Opportunity (AO) is being released to the Space Exploration community only in electronic form. It would thus be appreciated if it could be widely distributed by all recipients to colleagues and other potentially interested parties.

Paper ("hard") copy of this document is also available, on request, from Danièle LaRocque:

E-mail:
Telephone: (450) 926-4767

3.5 Intellectual Property

Proposals will be considered commercially sensitive if requested so by the proposers. Proposals must clearly identify any proprietary information that should not be released other than to internal and external reviewers. Any background intellectual property must be declared at the time of the proposal, but this will not be taken into account in the evaluation process.

3.6 Resultant Contract

Due to the Research and Development nature of the proposed work, any resultant contract which may result from this AO will be subject to the most recent General Conditions Research and Development DSS-MAS 9624 (note, Employment Equity only applies to requirements over $200K). Submission of a proposal acknowledges the Bidder's agreement with the application of the DSS-MAS 9624 General Conditions - Research and Development to the contract work. Any resultant contract will be negotiated and issued through Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).

Any contract resulting from this AO will contain a clause pertaining to communications/public affairs defining contractor responsibilities and authorities. The CSA retains the right to make primary contract announcements. Any subsequent contract-related announcements will be undertaken in cooperation with and subject to the approval of the CSA.

Enquiries should be addressed to Dr. Alain Berinstain:

Email:
Telephone: (450) 926-6573