Grant For Research 80NSSC23K0013
Ended Awarded Last action
- Contract number
- 80NSSC23K0013
- Awardee
-
Universities Space Research Association UEI VPWMMPGGPJ74
- Awarding agency
-
Shared Services Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Obligated
- $709,372
Award facts
- Contract value 100% obligated
- $709,372.00 Current and potential, with all options
- Completion date 100% complete
- Current and potential, with all options
- Contracting staff
- NAICS code
- Not on record
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
- Competition
- Full and Open Competition Basic Research
- Pricing
- Other
- Place of performance
- Columbia, MD 21046, USA
Award details come from SAM.gov/FPDS.
Transactions
| Action | Obligated | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Funding Only Action | $39,444 | |
| Funding Only Action | $139,135 | |
| Funding Only Action | $184,558 | |
| Funding Only Action | $173,522 | |
| Original award | $172,713 |
About this award
Universities Space Research Association (USRA) was awarded a $709,372 grant by NASA's Shared Services Center on October 5, 2022, to support modeling and analysis of low radio frequency observations from the lunar surface in pursuit of detecting the Dark Ages—an unexplored epoch of the early universe identified as a key discovery area in the Astro2020 Decadal Survey. Under this research grant, USRA will develop comprehensive modeling sets to characterize systematics associated with lunar-based low frequency measurements from two NASA experiments: ROLSES (Radio Observations on the Lunar Surface for Cosmology and Fundamental Physics) and LUSEE (Lunar Ultra-Wideband Spectral Element), both scheduled for deployment via NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program in 2022 and 2025 respectively. The work will focus on addressing challenging measurement systematics including beam-weighted foreground contamination, receiver characteristics, gain variations, and temperature offsets using advanced Bayesian statistical techniques and data analysis pipelines.
The research is based at USRA's Columbia, Maryland facility and is scheduled for completion by October 4, 2026. ROLSES will conduct observations on the lunar nearside across 1–30 megahertz frequencies while investigating antenna beam interactions with the subsurface, whereas LUSEE will perform higher precision measurements from the radio-quiet lunar farside across 1–80 megahertz. The project aims to either achieve the first detection of the Dark Ages global 21-centimeter signal through primordial neutral hydrogen observation or establish robust systematic foundations for follow-on CLPS instruments to accomplish this revolutionary measurement. This award includes no set-aside designation and represents a civilian space science research initiative supporting fundamental cosmology investigations.
Quick answers
Who was awarded contract 80NSSC23K0013?
80NSSC23K0013 was awarded to Universities Space Research Association by Shared Services Center (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) on October 5, 2022.
How much is contract 80NSSC23K0013 worth?
The government has obligated $709,372 on 80NSSC23K0013.
Was contract 80NSSC23K0013 competed?
The extent of competition for 80NSSC23K0013 was full and open competition.
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