INTEGRAL AO-6 Announcement

[Michael Arida <michael.j.arida@nasa.gov>]

March 12, 2008

Dear Colleague,

NASA is pleased to call to the attention of members of the U.S. scientific community the 
release by the European Space Agency (ESA) of the "INTEGRAL Announcement of 
Opportunity for Observing Proposals" (AO-6), soliciting Guest Observation proposals for 
ESA's INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL). The 
Announcement solicits proposals for observations to be performed during the 12-month 
period from August 16, 2008 to August 15, 2009. Due to the nature of the NASA-ESA 
bilateral agreement, this solicitation applies only to scientists affiliated with U.S. 
institutions; others are urged to contact ESA directly. U.S. scientists may propose either 
as Principal Investigators or as Co-Investigators on foreign P.I. proposals.  The due date 
for proposals is April 18, 2008.  The AO may be accessed directly from ESA, accessible 
via the following address:

http://integral.esac.esa.int/AO6/AO6_LetterDSci.pdf

NASA has instituted an INTEGRAL Guest Observer Facility (GOF) at the Goddard 
Space Flight Center (GSFC) as a support center for INTEGRAL activities in the U.S. 
Information of interest to U.S. observers, as well as general project information, can be 
found at the following address: 

http://integral.gsfc.nasa.gov/

A detailed description of the mission, including instrument capabilities, and additional 
information pertaining to the proposal preparation and submission procedures, is also 
available via links to the INTEGRAL home page at that address. (Questions concerning 
U.S. participation in the INTEGRAL AO-6 program should be addressed to 
steven.j.sturner@nasa.gov.)  ESA will be responsible for conducting a peer review of all 
submitted proposals, including those from U.S. investigators, and determining the 
associated time allocation. Current plans call for ESA to notify proposers and NASA of 
the results of the peer review during June 2008.

We anticipate that NASA will make funding available for a Guest Observer (GO) 
program to support the analysis, interpretation, and publication of data obtained by U.S. 
proposers granted INTEGRAL observing time through the ESA AO, but such funding 
will be contingent upon endorsement of continuation of the program by the upcoming 
NASA Senior Review and subsequent approval by NASA HQ. Details regarding the 
timing and mechanism of any solicitation for funding requests will be announced at a 
later date; please do not submit a budget with your observing proposal.

For additional technical or programmatic information regarding U.S. participation in the 
INTEGRAL mission, please contact:


Technical Information:	
				Dr. Steven Sturner
				NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
				Code 661
				Greenbelt, MD  20771
				Tel:  (301) 286-8447
				Fax:  (301) 286-1684
				steven.j.sturner@nasa.gov


Programmatic Information:

				Dr. F. Rick Harnden, Jr.
				NASA INTEGRAL Program Scientist
				Astrophysics Division
				Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
				(202) 358-3809
				frank.r.harnden@nasa.gov

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