Pluto's secret sauce: do subsurface volatile fluids shape its geology?
Active Grant For Research Awarded Last action
- Contract number
- 80NSSC25K7114
- Awardee
-
Lowell Observatory UEI L1A3LW734P89
- Awarding agency
-
Shared Services Center
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Obligated
- $586,330
Award facts
- Contract value 66% obligated
- $885,348.00 Current and potential, with all options
- Completion date 69% complete
- Current and potential, with all options
- NAICS code
- Not on record
- PSC
- AJ11 General Science And Technology R&D Services; General Science And Technology; Basic Research
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
- Competition
- Full and Open Competition Basic Research
- Pricing
- Other
- Place of performance
- Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
Award details come from SAM.gov/FPDS.
Transactions
| Action | Obligated | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Funding Only Action | $286,771 | |
| Original award | $299,559 |
About this award
Lowell Observatory, a private nonprofit research institution based in Flagstaff, Arizona, has been awarded an $885,348 research grant by NASA's Shared Services Center, with an ultimate completion date of October 6, 2027. This grant supports a scientific investigation into the role of subsurface volatile fluids in shaping Pluto's geology, with particular focus on enigmatic landforms including pits and channels that cannot be explained by impact processes. The research will examine how fluids composed of Pluto's three most volatile surface constituents—nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane—may have contributed to the formation of various surface features, particularly in regions north and east of Sputnik Planitia.
The research approach employs four integrated tasks leveraging the team's expertise in multiple modeling techniques and cryogenic laboratory studies. The investigation addresses the unique thermodynamic complexity of the ternary nitrogen-carbon monoxide-methane system, which exhibits counterintuitive properties including fluid-solid density inversions and anomalous pressure-temperature relationships along phase equilibrium surfaces. No set-aside designation has been applied to this award. As a key federal research partner, Lowell Observatory will conduct this fundamental scientific research to advance understanding of Pluto's subsurface processes and geological evolution based on data from NASA's New Horizons mission.
Quick answers
Who was awarded contract 80NSSC25K7114?
80NSSC25K7114 was awarded to Lowell Observatory by Shared Services Center (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) on October 7, 2024.
How much is contract 80NSSC25K7114 worth?
The government has obligated $586,330 on 80NSSC25K7114. Its current value, with exercised options, is $885,348.
Was contract 80NSSC25K7114 competed?
The extent of competition for 80NSSC25K7114 was full and open competition.
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