Execute a balanced science program based on discipline-specific guidance from the national academies of sciences engineering and medicine administration priorities and direction from congress

NASA's Shared Services Center awarded the Smithsonian Institution, doing business as Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, $195,362 in project grant funding on November 1, 2025, under the Science program (CFDA 43.001) to execute a balanced science program based on discipline-specific guidance from the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine and administration priorities and direction from Congress, with participation as a key partner and enabler in the agency's strategic objectives.

Performance runs through October 31, 2027, at the recipient's location in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Smithsonian Institution, a non-profit research organization, operates as a child entity of the broader Smithsonian Institution and conducts federal space science research, astrophysical instrumentation development, and scientific database management primarily as a federal grant recipient across NASA and National Science Foundation funding. The organization's research footprint centers on astrophysics, heliophysics, planetary science, solar physics, and Earth science. Recent representative work includes a $23.4 million cooperative agreement to develop and expand the Astrophysics Data System, a $7.58 million definitive contract for algorithm development supporting the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution mission, and a $1.594 million grant for management of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite Follow-Up Observing Program.

Participate as a key partner and enabler in the agenc