Amendment to NASA Research Announcement NRA 02-OSS-01
"Research Opportunities in Space Science - 2002",
entitled "Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Guest Observer Program - Cycle 8"
Release Date: August 23, 2002
Notice of Intent Due: September 23, 2002
Proposals Due: November 21, 2002
1. Scope of Program
This program element solicits proposals for the acquisition and
analysis of new scientific data from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
(RXTE). The primary goal of this mission is to investigate the nature
and physics of compact astrophysical objects as revealed through
temporal variations in their high energy emission on time scales from
microseconds to years. This solicitation is for Cycle 8 of RXTE Guest
Observations, to be carried out beginning on or around March 1, 2003,
and lasting approximately 12 months.
One hundred percent of the observing time on RXTE is available to the
scientific community through this solicitation--there is no guaranteed
time for the instrument teams. All proposals submitted in response to
this program must be for new pointed observations with RXTE using
either or both of the Proportional Counter Array (PCA) and High Energy
X-ray Timing Experiment (HEXTE) instruments (see Section 1.2 below).
Analyses of All-Sky Monitor (ASM) observations are the responsibility
of the RXTE ASM team and the results are placed in the High Energy
Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) public archive
as soon as possible after the data are obtained.
Note that, consistent with the above, investigations that do not
require new pointed RXTE observations are not within the scope of the
RXTE GO program, including:
(1) Proposals for specific configurations or observing sequences using
the ASM or for analysis of ASM data;
(2) Proposals for analysis of archival RXTE data; and,
(3) Proposals for complementary observations or theoretical work that
do not require new pointed observations.
1.2 The RXTE mission
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite was launched on
December 30, 1995, and carries three scientific instruments: (i) the
Proportional Counter Array, (PCA), developed at the NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center (GSFC); (ii) the High-Energy X-ray Timing Experiment
(HEXTE), developed at the University of California at San Diego
(UCSD); and (iii) the All-Sky Monitor (ASM), developed at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The project is managed
by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and is sponsored by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Space Science
(OSS). The observing time on RXTE is freely available to the
international user community through peer reviewed proposals.
The primary purpose of RXTE is to study the structure and dynamics of
compact X-ray sources, including accreting neutron stars, white
dwarfs, and black holes in our galaxy, as well as compact, massive
objects thought to be present in the nuclei of active galaxies through
observations of temporal and broad-band spectral phenomena. The wide
variety of physical processes involved in RXTE targets are typically
characterized by substantial X-ray emission in the 2-250 keV energy
range and variations in X-ray intensity on a wide range of time
scales. RXTE is designed to study the intensity variations of these
objects over times as short as microseconds and as long as years. The
scientific objectives of successful RXTE investigations will address
questions concerning the fundamental physics and astrophysics of such
systems, including:
- characteristics of dense matter;
- behavior of plasma in high magnetic fields;
- identification of stellar black holes;
- interaction of binary stars through mass exchange and radiation;
- tests of General Relativity;
- the nature of quasi-periodic oscillators;
- the evolution and fate of compact X-ray sources; and/or
- the nature of the central engine of active galactic nuclei.
2. Programmatic Information
2.1 Proposal Submission and Evaluation
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
As discussed in the Summary of Solicitation of this NRA, the Office of
Space Science (OSS) is now using a single, unified set of instructions
for the submission of proposals. This material is contained in the
document entitled NASA Guidebook for Proposers Responding to NASA
Research Announcement 2001 (or NASA Guidebook for Proposers for
short) that is accessible by opening URL
http://research.hq.nasa.gov/
and linking through the menu item "Helpful References," or may be
directly accessed online at URL
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/nraguidebook/
However, owing to the use of electronic proposals for this program
(see details below) only certain parts of its Chapters 2 and 3 apply
as described below.
2.1.1 Submission of Proposals to the RXTE Cycle 8 GO Program
NASA will review proposals in a two-stage process. In the first
stage, proposals will be evaluated with respect to their intrinsic
merit and relevance to NASA's objectives. Proposals selected in the
Stage 1 review will be awarded observing time on RXTE and become
candidates for funding subject to the Stage 2 review process. The
proposed cost of the investigation will be evaluated in the second
stage.
Prospective proposers to Cycle 8 of the RXTE GO Program must adhere to
the following procedures for the submission of Stage 1 and Stage 2
proposals:
Stage 1
- Go to
http://proposals.hq.nasa.gov/
and submit electronically a
Notice of Intent (NOI) to Propose in compliance with Chapter 3.1 of
the Guidebook by the due date given in the Schedule in Section 2.2 of
this appendix.
- Go to
http://proposals.hq.nasa.gov/
and submit electronically the
Cover Page (see Section 2.2 of the Guidebook for details). As budget
information is not required until Stage 2, proposers should use a
placeholder value of $1 for the proposed cost of the investigation.
Print and retain the Cover Page for use in Stage 2
- Go to the RXTE website at
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/cycle8.html
and complete and
electronically submit all required forms. No hard copy submission is
required. Note that scientific justifications should not exceed four
pages for proposals requesting less than 500 ksec of RXTE observing
time, or six pages for proposals requesting 500 ksec or greater.
Stage 2
Successful Stage 1 proposers will be contacted by the RXTE Guest
Observer Facility (GOF) and invited to submit a cost proposal for
evaluation during Stage 2. Upon notification of selection of a Stage
1 proposal, a proposer must respond as follows:
- Follow the instructions for submitting a budget (not to exceed one
year in duration) using either the budget forms found at the RXTE
Cycle 8 website or using the proposing institution's own budget
format. Preface this with a signed Cover Page from Stage 1 and submit
in hard copy to the RXTE GOF.
- As part of the Stage 2 proposal, investigators may request support
for correlative observations at other wavelengths, provided that these
were proposed and accepted as part of the Stage 1 proposal. Funding
for such correlative studies will be considered only insofar as they
directly support a specific investigation using RXTE.
2.1.2 Evaluation and Selection of Proposals submitted to the RXTE Cycle 8 GO Program
In Stage 1, proposals will be evaluated with respect to the criteria
specified in Section C.3 of the Guidebook (excluding cost, to be
evaluated in Stage 2 as described below), where it is understood that
the intrinsic merit of a proposal shall include the following factors:
The suitability of using the RXTE observatory and data products for
the proposed investigation; the degree to which the investigation uses
RXTE's unique capabilities; the feasibility of accomplishing the
objectives of the investigation within the time, telemetry, and
scheduling constraints; and the feasibility of the proposed analysis
techniques.
In Stage 2, a review team comprised of a subset of the Stage 1 peer
evaluation panel will be convened by NASA to review the cost proposals
against factor (4) of the evaluation criteria as specified in Section
C.2 of the Guidebook.
Based upon the results of the above reviews, the RXTE Program
Scientist will recommend a set of proposals to the Director, OSS
Astronomy and Physics Division, for final selection. A total of about
$700K is planned for the support of up to 50 Cycle 8 Guest
Investigations of one year duration each.
2.2 Supplemental Information
Further details of the proposal submission requirements and process
may be found at the RXTE Cycle 8 Website
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xte/cycle8.html
which includes a detailed mission description; technical information
about the RXTE mission, instruments, and feasibility; detailed
information regarding proposal submission, evaluation, selection and
implementation; and, instructions for completing the required proposal
forms.
Notices of Intent (NOI) and Stage 1 Proposals will be due at 4:30 PM
Eastern Time on the following dates:
NOI Due Date: September 23, 2002
Stage 1 Proposal Due Date: November 21, 2002
Technical questions concerning this program element may be directed to
the RXTE Guest Observer Facility:
Dr. Alan P. Smale
RXTE Guest Observer Program
Code 660.1
Building 2, Room W20C
Goddard Space Flight Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Greenbelt, MD 20771-0001
USA
Tel: 301-286-7063
FAX: 301-286-0708
Email: xtehelp@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov
Programmatic information may be obtained from:
Dr. Louis J. Kaluzienski
Astronomy and Physics Division
Code SZ
Office of Space Science
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC 20546-0001
USA
Tel: 202-358-0365
Fax: 202-358-3096
Email: lkaluzie@hq.nasa.gov
If you have a question about RXTE, please send email to one of our
help desks.
| 
