2024 HERO Appendix A: NASA Human Research Program Flagship Opportunity | 80JSC024NA001 FLAGSHIP

Opportunity Information: Apply for 80JSC024NA001 FLAGSHIP

The 2024 HERO Appendix A: NASA Human Research Program Flagship Opportunity is a solicitation from NASA Johnson Space Center under NASA Research Announcement (NRA) 80JSC024NA001-FLAGSHIP. It sits within the broader Human Exploration Research Opportunities (HERO) umbrella NRA (80JSC024NA001) as Appendix A, and it is focused on applied research and technology development that directly supports the Human Research Program (HRP) goals tied to keeping crews healthy and performing at a high level during future space exploration missions, including lunar operations. NASA is looking for work that can move beyond basic science into practical methods, tools, and countermeasures that can be used in operational environments.

NASA is soliciting proposals in four specific research areas. The first is sensory augmentation to enhance sensorimotor recovery, which centers on ways to help astronauts regain or maintain balance, movement control, spatial orientation, and related functions as they adapt to altered gravity and then return to another gravity environment. The second area is a biomarker exploration system for measuring operationally meaningful performance in future exploration missions, aimed at identifying and/or integrating biological measures that reliably track performance-relevant status in ways that matter for mission tasks and decision-making. The third area targets countermeasures for inconsistency in crew-systems integration, which is about reducing performance and safety risks that come from mismatches between humans and the systems they operate, such as variability in interfaces, procedures, workload distribution, automation behavior, or training-transfer issues. The fourth area focuses on mitigating behavioral health and performance risks for lunar missions, addressing the psychological, social, cognitive, and operational stressors that can affect crews during extended missions and in challenging lunar environments.

The funding instrument types listed for this opportunity include cooperative agreements, grants, and procurement contracts, reflecting that NASA may support selected efforts through different award mechanisms depending on the nature of the work and the intended relationship during execution. The activity category is science and technology and other research and development, and the CFDA number associated with the program is 43.007. The opportunity lists an award ceiling of $1,500,000 and anticipates making about 12 awards, indicating a competitive selection with projects likely scoped to deliver tangible outcomes within that upper funding range.

Eligibility is broadly open across U.S. institution types, described as unrestricted, with the expectation that proposers follow any specific eligibility clarifications contained in the full solicitation text. Principal Investigators are allowed to build teams that include universities, federal laboratories, industry partners, and state or local government laboratories. In team arrangements, the submitting organization is expected to take responsibility for overall project administration and execution in line with the management plan presented in the proposal. NASA also notes that collaboration with non-U.S. organizations may occur only on a cooperative basis with no exchange of funds, which typically means international partners can participate through in-kind contributions or parallel support rather than receiving NASA funding.

The submission process is structured as a two-step application. A virtual pre-proposers conference was scheduled for October 16, 2023 to provide guidance and allow prospective applicants to ask questions. Step-1 proposals were due November 1, 2023, and only applicants invited after Step-1 are eligible to submit Step-2 proposals, which were due January 30, 2024. The original closing date shown for the solicitation aligns with the Step-1 deadline. Full details, including the Appendix A documentation and associated requirements, are provided through the linked HERO Appendix A page and the broader HERO overview page, with additional posting and submission management handled through NASA NSPIRES.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA Johnson Space Center in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2024 HERO Appendix A: NASA Human Research Program Flagship Opportunity" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 43.007.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 03, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 01, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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