NASA Grant Opportunity: ROSES 2009: Near Earth Object Observations

There is a recent NASA research announcement funding solicitation about NEOs. A summary of the solicitation follows:

Science Mission Directorate
NASA Research Announcement (NRA)
Near Earth Object Observations
Solicitation: NNH09ZDA001N-NEOO

Release: Feb 13, 2009
NEOO09 NOIs Due: Apr 23, 2009
NEOO09 Proposals Due: Jun 12, 2009

Near Earth Objects (NEOs) are defined as asteroids or comet nuclei whose perihelia are less than 1.3 AU. NASA is committed to discovering all NEOs with diameters greater than or equal to ~1 km and to characterizing that population through determination of their orbital elements, with the goal of detecting 90 percent of this population as soon as possible. In support of NASA’s commitment and goal, this program supports NEO investigations whose primary objective is to inventory the population of NEOs with diameters greater than or equal to 1 km. In addition to this goal, the U.S. Congress has expressed an interest for NASA to extend the survey down to objects as small as 140 meters which might pose a hazard to impacting the Earth. Therefore, investigations that provide capability to detect the subset of NEOs in this category, Potentially Hazardous Objects (PHOs) down to 140 meters in size, will receive additional consideration.

In order to help achieve this inventory of NEOs, NASA seeks investigations that promise a sustained, productive search for NEOs and/or obtain follow-up observations of sufficient astrometric precision to allow the accurate prediction of the trajectories of discovered objects. NASA will also consider within this program proposals that characterize a representative sample of these objects by measuring their sizes, shapes, and compositions.

Link: NASA NSPIES NEO Grant (PDF)

Link: NASA NRA Solicitation: NNH09ZDA001N-NEOO Main NSPIRES Page

Link: Grant.gov listing