The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) has delegated the management of the Software Assurance Research Program (SARP) to the NASA IV&V Program. The NASA IV&V Program also maintains its own internally funded research program focused on initiative research directly applicable to the work of the NASA IV&V Program.
OSMA SARP The OSMA assures the safety and enhances the success of all NASA activities through the development, implementation, and oversight of Agency-wide safety, reliability, maintainability, and quality assurance (SRM&QA) policies and procedures. The focus of OSMA includes:
- Establishing and assuring compliance with NASA safety and mission assurance (SMA) strategies, policies, and standards.
- Fostering early integration and life-cycle implementation of SRM&QA into NASA's programs and operations.
- Improving methodologies for risk identification and assessment, and providing recommendations for risk mitigation and acceptance.
- Performing independent SMA assessments and process verification reviews.
- Providing analysis and recommendations for critical Agency safety decisions.
- Sponsoring the innovation and rapid transfer of SRM&QA technologies, processes, and techniques to improve safety and reliability and reduce the cost of mission success.
The OSMA SARP performs leading-edge research that improves software assurance methods, practices, and tools, and directly supports OSMA’s charge and NASA’s missions.
OSMA SARP and SARP Research Infusion Proposal Template Research initiatives funded by OSMA SARP are termed Center Initiatives (CIs). CIs address Agency-level software assurance and/or software improvement needs, and can be conducted by NASA Centers/Facilities, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or other entities closely tied to the work of NASA. CIs are generally research projects, but other projects may be termed CIs on a case-by-case basis. CIs may also employ the services of support contractors. Multi-Center collaborations are encouraged.
The FY11 SARP Proposal Template contains instructions for completing and submitting your proposal. It also includes evaluation criteria.
The infusion of research into practice is a cornerstone of the SARP, and to that end, SARP supports Research Infusion Initiatives, which transition promising, mature software engineering research-derived technologies into practice by NASA and its contractors. The solicitation for Infusion initiatives to begin in FY11 is conducted in conjunction with the SARP solicitation. The priorities for research infusion are to focus first on transitioning into practice mature approaches developed through SARP or other NASA development mechanisms (SBIRs), new approaches and technologies developed in-house at a center which has promise for other parts of the organization, and third, commercial technologies which are not yet in widespread usage within NASA.
The FY11 SARP Research Infusion Proposal Template contains instructions for completing and submitting your proposal. It also includes evaluation criteria. Please note that the Research Infusion proposal template is different from the regular SARP proposal template.
Research Topics and Needs Input was solicited and provided from across NASA regarding areas where additional knowledge, tools, or techniques could support the primary work of the Agency. The list of research topics/needs is reflective of that input. Proposers should consider carefully the list of requests. While it is not necessary to submit a proposal only in response to the topics listed, certainly the input from the Centers is a significant factor in the evaluation of proposals. If a proposal is submitted on a topic not included in the list, care should be taken to establish not only why the topic is important to support the work of the Agency, but also that there is appropriate support from a project/program/effort which will benefit from the work.
The research needs list is available here.
Key Dates | Date | Milestone |
| 14-Sep-2009 | FY11 Solicitation released |
| 26-Oct-2009 | Proposals submission deadline |
| 02-Nov-2009 | Center Review period begins |
| 05-Feb-2010 | Source Evaluation Panel convenes |
| 01-Oct-2010 | Selected initiatives begin work |
