The MIDEX Guidelines for Concept Study Preparation have been revised. The revised Guidelines are available from the MIDEX Downselect Page. The Guidelines in the Explorer Program Library have not been updated. Please make sure that you have the version labeled March 1999.

The significant changes and clarifications in the Guidelines are:

• A new section is required in the Concept Study Report concerning "Changes required for and implications of delaying investigation launch until June 2004." The contents of this section are described in Section J of the revised Guidelines.
• Section H of the revised Guidelines concerns the description of the technical plan for Phase B only.
• Section I of the revised Guidelines clarifies that the concept study report should be phased to the preferred baseline launch date. A clarification is made concerning Letters of Endorsement involving contributions to the mission. A clarification is made in subsection 1.b on the level of detail required for the instrument development in the WBS. A clarification is made in subsection 1.c that the workforce staffing plan should be broken down by organization and by fiscal year. Additions are made to subsection 1.d and subsection 2.b concerning the evidence expected to justify cost estimates. A clarification is made in section 1.e that the time phased cost summary should be by fiscal year. A clarification is made in Figure 1 separating the cost profile for Phase B from that of Phase C/D. A clarification is made in Figure 2 that the time phased cost summary should be by fiscal year. Two columns in Figure 4 have been swapped in position.
• Section J of the revised Guidelines has been added to describe the information required in the concept study concerning the implication for delaying the investigation launch until June 2004.
• Section K of the revised Guidelines contains a clarification concerning Letters of Endorsement involving contributions to the mission.
• Many typos have been corrected, especially changing all references to a proposal into references to a concept study.

The revised Guidelines are in Microsoft Word 6.0/95 format. The changes between the original Guidelines and the revised Guidelines have been preserved in the document. To display the changes, use the "Track Changes" tool found in the "Tools" pull down menu in Microsoft Word.

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NASA Headquarters Responsible Office: Code SR
Last Updated: 22 March 1999
Author: Paul Hertz (Code SR)