ROSES25: C.12 Foundational Artificial Intelligence for the Moon and Mars

NOTICE: Amended January 13, 2026: This amendment presents this new program element in ROSES-2025. Neither a Notices of Intent nor Step-1 proposals are requested for this program. Proposals are due April 28, 2026.

This synopsis is a generic summary that is posted for each of the many individual "program elements" in NASA's Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) - 2025 solicitation. For specific information on this particular program element download and read the PDF of the text of this program element by going to Tables 2 or 3 of ROSES at https://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2025table2

and https://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2025table3, respectively, click the title of the program element of interest, a hypertext link will take you to a page for that particular program element. On that page, on the right side under "Announcement Documents" the link on the bottom will be to the PDF of the text of the call for proposals. For example, if one were interested in the Solar System Science program (NNH25ZDA001N-SCUBED) one would follow the link to the NSPIRES page for that program element and then to read the text of the call one would click on "C.2 Solar System Science (.pdf)" to download the text of the call. If one wanted to set it into the context of the goals, objectives and know the default rules for all elements within Appendix C, the planetary science division, one might download and read "C.1 Planetary Science Research Program Overview (.pdf)" from that same page. While the letters and numbers are different for each element within ROSES (A.10, B.3, etc.) the basic configuration is always the same, e.g., the letter indicates the Science Division (A is Earth Science, B is Heliophysics etc.) and whatever the letter, #1 is always the division overview. In 2025, most program elements will be set up for application via Grants.gov only if requested at least 30 days in advance of the due date. For more on Grants.gov submissions see Section IV(b)v of the ROSES Summary of Solicitation, that may be found at https://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2025.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate (SMD) released its annual omnibus Research Announcement (NRA), Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) - 2025 (OMB Approval Number 2700-0092, CFDA Number 43.001) on February 21, 2025. In this case "omnibus" means that this NRA has many individual program elements, each with its own due dates and topics. All together these cover the wide range of basic and applied supporting research and technology supported by SMD. Awards will be made as grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts depending on the nature of the work proposed. However, most extramural research awards deriving from ROSES will be grants, and many program elements of ROSES specifically exclude contracts, because contracts would not be appropriate for the nature of the work solicited. Funded Co-Is at government labs will receive inter- or intra-agency transfers. The typical period of performance for an award is three years, but some programs may allow up to five years and others specify shorter periods. In most cases, organizations of every type, Government and private, for profit and not-for-profit, domestic and foreign (with some caveats), may submit proposals without restriction on teaming arrangements. Tables listing the program elements and due dates (Tables 2 and 3), a table that provides a very top level summary of proposal contents (Table 1), and the full text of the ROSES-2025 "Summary of Solicitation", may all be found NSPIRES at https://solicitation.nasaprs.com/ROSES2025.

Frequently asked questions for ROSES are posted at http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/faqs. Questions concerning specific program elements should be directed to the point(s) of contact for that particular element, who may be found either at the end of the individual program element in the summary table of key information or on the web list of topics and points of contact at: http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/program-officers-list. General questions concerning ROSES-2025 may be directed to the office of the SMD Deputy Associate Administrator for Research at sara@nasa.gov.

Not all program elements are known at the time of the release of ROSES. To be informed of new program elements or amendments to this NRA, proposers may subscribe to: (1) The SMD mailing lists (by logging in at http://nspires.nasaprs.com and checking the appropriate boxes under "Account Management" and "Email Subscriptions"), (2) The ROSES-2025 blog feed for amendments, clarifications, and corrections to at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/solicitations/roses-2025/, and (3) The ROSES-2025 due date Google calendars (one for each science division). Instructions are at https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/sara/library-and-useful-links (link from the words due date calendar).