Vice President for Research

Number: NNH24ZDA009L

Release Date: August 30, 2024

Response Date: October 1, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern time

Direct URL: https://go.nasa.gov/JanusRFIA29I

The Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) within the Planetary Science Division (PSD) of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) seeks information using a Request for Information (RFI) to determine interest in a reconnaissance mission to asteroid Apophis ahead of the asteroid’s 2029 close encounter with Earth. Specifically, NASA is interested in facilitating the development of a non-NASA-led mission to Apophis utilizing the agency’s near-fully developed but still un-flown Janus spacecraft.

The RFI is focused on determining whether interested planetary defense teams have a mission architecture to propose to NASA to achieve this goal using the Janus spacecraft. Any approach to this potential mission to Apophis would need to be on an expedited schedule to meet a pre-April 2029 encounter opportunity. It is emphasized that this RFI is NOT a Request for Proposal, nor is it an Invitation for Bid.

The RFI seeks responses broadly only from United States (U.S.) industry, universities, non-profit organizations, individual researchers, NASA centers, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) such as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University-Affiliated Research Centers such as the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and other U.S. Federal, state, local, tribal government agencies. International team members, i.e., entities or individuals outside the U.S., only are permitted as part of an RFI response from a U.S.-led science team. Responses are subject to the restrictions placed on NASA by Section 526 of the ‘‘Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024’’ that prohibit bilateral relationships with China. Details of that restriction are at: https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/hr4366/BILLS-118hr4366enr.pdf.

This email is a partial summary of the RFI. For the full text of the RFI and response instructions, visit the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) at https://nspires.nasaprs.com, choose/click on “Solicitations” at the top of the page, and on the next page input number  “NNH24ZDA009L” in the search box or use the direct short URL above. In the event of any future lapses to the NASA operations, RFI respondents should visit NSPIRES, the official NASA source for this RFI.

All responses to this RFI must be submitted in an electronic format per section “5. Response Instructions” via NSPIRES. The RFI Response should address the issues and questions found in section “4. Requested Information”, including the relevance of the proposed concept to NASA’s Planetary Defense Strategy, scientific objectives, and programmatic goal to explore innovative approaches to partnerships.

No later than September 25^th, please email questions and comments concerning this RFI to the email address listed below with the subject line: “NASA A29I-Janus Question/Clarification.” NASA intends to respond to received questions by September 30, 2024. Depending on the nature of received questions, NASA may respond on an individual basis by email or may post responses to inquiries in a “Questions and Answers” (Q&A) document available on the NSPIRES page for this RFI. Any posted Q&As will be edited to preserve the anonymity of persons and institutions who submit questions and are intended to address inquiries of broader interest and general clarification.

The following email address is not to be used for RFI response submissions. Any RFI submissions made via email will not be considered.

Point(s) of Contact:

Lindley Johnson Planetary Defense Coordination Office Science Mission Directorate Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, DC 20546

Andrea Riley Planetary Defense Coordination Office Science Mission Directorate Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters National Aeronautics and Space Administration Washington, DC 20546

Note: Please visit NSPIRES for the full text and read the RFI before emailing.