Announcement of Opportunity for the Discovery Program:
Discovery Program 2005 and Missions of Opportunity


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Release Date: April 22, 2005
Preproposal Conference: May 19, 2005
Notice of Intent: June 15, 2005
Proposals Due: August 1, 2005

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission
Directorate (SMD) is releasing a NASA Announcement of Opportunity (AO), for
the Discovery Program 2005 and Missions of Opportunity. NASA intends to
select a Discovery mission to launch by December 31, 2012. A Mission of
Opportunity may also be selected. The Discovery Program AO solicits
investigations that meet the goals of planetary system(s) exploration
encompassing the scientific objectives of the NASA Solar System Division
(excluding Mars) and the search for extrasolar planetary systems element of
the NASA Universe Division.

Investigation teams are to be led by a single Principal Investigator (PI),
with participation open to all categories of organizations, foreign and
domestic, including industry, educational institutions, nonprofit
organization, NASA centers, and other Government agencies. This
solicitation will be open from April 22, 2005, through August 1, 2005. A
Discovery Preproposal Conference will be scheduled approximately three
weeks after the AO is released. Details for this conference and an
expanded version of this Announcement of Intent will be posted at
http://discovery.larc.nasa.gov/discovery/. Upon the release date, the full
text of the AO and all appendices will be available electronically via the
World Wide Web site http://nspires.nasaprs.com/. Questions or comments
about this intention to release a Discovery AO may be addressed to the NASA
Discovery Program Scientist: Dr. Susan M. Niebur, Discovery Program
Scientist, Solar System Division, Science Mission Directorate, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC 20546-0001; E-mail:
susan.m.niebur@..., Telephone: (202) 358-0745; Facsimile: (202) 358-3097.