OMB Approval No. 2700-0087



                              
                ADVANCED INSTRUMENT CONCEPTS
                            FOR A
                   NEAR-SUN FLYBY MISSION







                 NASA Research Announcement
           Soliciting Proposals for Basic Research
                   Submitted on or Before
                       January 3, 1996
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                        NRA 95-OSS-15
                              
                              
                  Issued:  October 3, 1995
           Notice of Intent Due: December 4, 1995
               Proposals Due:  January 3, 1996
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                              
                   Office of Space Science
                             and
            Office of Space Access and Technology
        National Aeronautics and Space Administration
                 Washington, DC  20546-0001


                              
                ADVANCED INSTRUMENT CONCEPTS
                            FOR A
                   NEAR-SUN FLYBY MISSION

This NASA Research Announcement (NRA) solicits proposals that
utilize new innovative concepts and advanced technologies for the
conceptual definition and research investigation of science
instruments, groups of instruments, and complete integrated
instrumentation packages for experiments requiring flight to only
a few solar radii above the Sun's surface.  Such a mission has
been called the Solar Probe and has been studied on an ongoing
level by NASA since the late 1970's.  An agreement signed by the
U.S. and Russia in April 1994 has given new impetus to this
concept through the so-called Fire and Ice study, in which the
Fire mission would be a jointly sponsored pair of spacecraft to
execute close proximity flybys of the Sun. The Ice mission would
be a flyby of Pluto.  This particular NRA solicits studies to
define and develop new and innovative concepts for particles and
fields and imaging instruments that would carry out scientific
investigations during a close solar flyby mission such as the
Fire mission.  Concepts can be proposed for an individual
instrument, groups of instruments, or for a complete integrated
instrumentation package.

Participation in this program is open to all categories of U.S.
organizations including educational institutions, industry,
nonprofit institutions, NASA Centers, and other Government
agencies.  Selection for funding will be based on relevance to
the science goals and objectives of the Fire mission, intrinsic
merit, cost, and experience.  A total of approximately $700K is
available for this program from NASA's Fiscal Year (FY) 1995 and
FY 1996 budgets.  This program is jointly funded by the Office of
Space Science and the Office of Space Access and Technology.  It
is expected that approximately 7 studies, lasting up to 12
months, may be funded, depending on the submission of qualified
proposals.

It is NASA and U.S. Government policy to maximize the
opportunities for Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDB's),
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's), and
Minority Institutions (MI's); see Appendix D for definitions of
these terms.  Investigators from such institutions are encouraged
to propose.

Appendix A provides technical and programmatic information
specific to this NRA.  Appendix B contains standard guidance for
the preparation and the evaluation of proposals.  Appendix C
provides model formats for summary information that must preface
each proposal.  Appendix D provides the definitions of minority
and disadvantaged institutions.

All appendices are available on the World Wide Web (WWW) through
the Space Physics Division homepage
(http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/spd/).  The appendices can also be
obtained by returning the enclosed form (by mail or facsimile),
or by providing the information requested on the enclosed form in
an e-mail message to the point of contact listed below.

The following summary information applies to this NRA:
This has been the access to this page since October 4, 1995.