Microgravity University

• Types of Proposals
• Application Checklist
• Forming a Team
• Participation Criteria
• Proposal Advice
• Proposal Evaluation
• Proposal Guidelines
• Reasons for Disqualification
• Team Outreach Event Log
• How To Apply

CREATING A PROPOSAL

II. EXPERIMENT SAFETY EVALUATION

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This section will be used by the Reduced Gravity Office test directors to confirm that each experiment is safe to handle on the ground, and safe to fly on the reduced gravity aircraft. When the team submits the proposal, it may not know exact dimensions or tensile strengths of parts and pieces planned for use; however, the team should be able to describe its plans to design, fabricate and operate the experiment in a safe manner. Information contained in this section will be used to form the basis of the Test Equipment Data Package submitted by selected teams in the weeks prior to flight. Flight safety is paramount; therefore, ranking in this category will place the team's experiment in a "SAFE/GO, CONDITIONAL, UNSAFE/ NO-GO" category. Experiments considered UNSAFE/NO-GO will not be considered for participation, in spite of technical or outreach merit.

Section Format Required Additional Information EXPERIMENT SAFETY EVALUATION Expectations for the Experiment Safety Evaluation section of the proposal should be completed in accordance with the instructions contained in Experiment Safety Evaluation guidelines provided by the Reduced Gravity Office. See Experiment Safety Evaluation Guidelines (pdf) Provide as much information as is known at the time of proposal submission. Important questions to answer in the Experiment Safety Evaluation are: What are you bringing to Houston? What do you need on the ground? What are you doing with it in the aircraft? The Experiment Safety Evaluation (Ground and Flight Operations) elements included in the proposal are considered to be the initial stage of the Test Equipment Data Package (TEDP) which is required of selected teams. The information contained therein should give the reviewers an adequate picture of the team's experiment so that a determination regarding its safety for ground handling / flight operations can be made. The final version of the TEDP is submitted by each selected team six weeks prior to flight. It is considered a separate requirement for flight, and will contain more detailed analysis of the experiment than what is presented in the Experiment Safety Evaluation portion submitted in the proposal. All sections should be addressed. If one or more sections are not applicable to the experiment, then state so. Do not, under any circumstances, omit a section.

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