NASA Solicitation:Materials International Space Station Experiment 7B MISSE 7B Hardware for Flight Readiness Testing
Synopsis – Jun 03, 2008
General Information
Solicitation Number: N/A
Reference Number: GRC4200250844
Posted Date: Jun 03, 2008
FedBizOpps Posted Date: Jun 03, 2008
Original Response Date: Jun 17, 2008
Current Response Date: Jun 17, 2008
Classification Code: A — Research and Development
NAICS Code: 541712 – Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
Contracting Office Address
NASA/Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH 44135
Description
NASA/GRC has a requirement for the following Statement of Work:
Materials International Space Station Experiment – 7B (MISSE 7B) is a collaborative effort among NASA, the Department of Defense, and industry for the purpose of studying the synergistic effects of the space environment on a wide variety of materials and components. The materials and components from various Principal Investigators across the Agency and other host organizations are mounted in a Passive Experiment Carrier (PEC), about the size of a suitcase, with electrical connections to International Space Station (ISS) to provide power and data. Seventh in a series, MISSE 7B will re-utilize existing PEC hardware, refurbished for flight. Integration of samples into the refurbished PEC will require four basic tasks to be completed by the contractor:
1.0: Managing, Scheduling, and Coordinating Principal Investigator Activities Manage the day to day tasks for integration. Coordinate the activities of the various Principal Investigators. Establish delivery schedules to insure that MISSE 7B integration will meet deadlines required for the Shuttle launch schedule. Conduct weekly telecons to review status and provide information to Principal Investigators. Provide shipping instructions and bagging requirements to the various Principal Investigators.
2.0: Conducting Design Reviews and Allocating Resources on the PEC Determine physical space, power levels, and communications interfaces required for each experiment. Review and allocate PEC resources among experiments. Arrange shipping of PEC, baseplates, and standoffs to integration site. Coordinate delivery of individual experiments to integration site. Conduct an experiments critical design review and a MISSE 7B systems critical design review.
3.0: Liaison to NRL for Safety Reviews The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is coordinating the integration of MISSE 7A. MISSE 7A and MISSE 7B are to be deployed on ISS simultaneously and the schedule for MISSE 7B integration is defined by simultaneous flight readiness testing of both MISSE 7A and 7B at NRL in November 2008. NRL will flow down flight readiness requirements to the contractor. The contractor will provide information and requirements to Principal Investigators to insure that each MISSE 7B experiment complies with safety requirements of the Space Transportation System and International Space Station programs. A review of shatterable materials, sharp edges, thermal (touch temperature), and Electromagnetic Interference requirements will be conducted as part of the safety reviews.
4.0: Build and Acquire Hardware Refurbish and modify an existing PEC as necessary to accommodate MISSE 7B power and data connections. Clean and reassemble refurbished PEC. Complete the design and coordinate the machining of two baseplates to accommodate Principal Investigator supplied sample holders. Machine sample holders for passive samples, as needed. Build and/or acquire stem, mounts, socket plugs, standoffs, and provide power & communications hardware. Build and/or acquire hardware necessary for attachment of the PEC to the Shuttle and the ISS.
4.1: Materials Materials for task 4.0, including aluminum, stainless steel, nutplates, and tooling needed to complete the modification and assembly of the baseplates and PECs.
(Additional Tasks to be added upon receipt of Air Force Research Laboratory funding)
5.0: Assemble Hardware The contractor will write detailed assembly procedures for mounting experiments and support electronics onto each baseplate, and for mounting baseplates into the PEC. The contractor will write assembly procedures for attaching all other necessary hardware to the PEC, including stem and mount, socket plugs, and cabling for power and data interfaces. The assembly procedures will be based on similar procedures from previous MISSE experience to the greatest extent possible. The contractor will lead the team assembling MISSE 7B, including attaching experiments to baseplates, wiring the power and data feeds, and attaching the loaded baseplates to the PEC. Assembly shall be done in a clean environment. The location for assembly will be selected by the contractor in concert with the NASA contracting officer. Principal Investigators shall be invited to participate in the integration of their particular experiments and may choose to ship or hand-deliver their experiments to the integration site. Pre-flight images shall be captured for each experiment. Pre-flight images of both sides of the PEC shall be obtained and made available to the Principal Investigators.
6.0: Provide Environment Monitors The contractor will provide passive atomic oxygen, particulate radiation, and molecular contamination monitors. Kapton witness samples will be placed on each baseplate for the atomic oxygen monitoring. Thermoluminescent dosimeters will be placed on each baseplate for particulate radiation monitoring. Optically transparent samples will be placed on each baseplate for contamination monitoring.
7.0: Deliver hardware to NRL Acquire suitable shipping container, prepare assembled PEC for shipping, and deliver to NRL for flight readiness testing.
8.0: Support flight readiness testing The contractor will provide personnel to be present, as needed, for vibration testing and systems functional checks subsequent to the vibration testing at NRL, including functional testing of power and communications. The contractor will act as liaison to Principal Investigators should any issue arise during flight readiness testing.
Essential Schedule Milestones
Complete design and build of baseplates – August 8, 2008 Complete refurbishment of PEC – August 22, 2008 Complete manufacture of mechanical systems (stem, mount, socket plate) – August 29, 2008 Delivery of electrical hardware to integration site – September 3, 2008 Delivery of individual experiments to integration site – July 14 to August 15, 2008. Hardware assembly and experiment integration – September 8 to October 24, 2008 Deliver integrated MISSE-7B PEC to NRL for flight readiness testing – November 3, 2008
NASA/GRC intends to purchase the items from Boeing of Seattle, Washington 98124. Materials International Space Station Experiment 7B (MISSE 7B) is scheduled to be launched in August 2009 to provide time-critical flight data for the Exploration Technology Development Program and Constellation. To meet this schedule, the contractor needs to deliver the MISSE 7B hardware for flight readiness testing by November 1, 2008. Boeing has extensive knowledge and technical expertise with the MISSE hardware based on their prior experiences with MISSEs 1 through 6. Boeing has worked with the Principal Investigators from across the Agency and has an excellent communication network already in place with the Principal Investigators for gathering mass, volume, power, and communication resource needs. Based on their past experience, their existing familiarity with MISSE 7B hardware and experiments, and their network of communications with Agency Principal Investigators, it is in the Government’s best interest to issue a contract to Boeing to conduct the time-critical integration activities associated with MISSE 7B.
The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12. See Note 26.
Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort in writing to the identified point of contact not later than 4:30 p.m. local time NLT June 17, 2008. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government.
Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.
All responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency.
An Ombudsman has been appointed. See NASA Specific Note “B”.
Any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.
Point of Contact
Name: Irene Cierchacki
Title: Contracting Officer
Phone: 216-433-6036
Fax: 216-433-5489
Email: Irene.Cierchacki-1@nasa.gov
Name: Ernest C. Mensurati
Title: Contracting Officer
Phone: 216-433-2727
Fax: 216-433-2480
Email: Ernest.C.Mensurati@nasa.gov
