NASA Ames Research Center: Sources Sought Special Notice 2012
Synopsis – Feb 02, 2012
General Information
Solicitation Number: NNA1112345L-SN2012
Posted Date: Feb 02, 2012
FedBizOpps Posted Date: Feb 02, 2012
Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No
Original Response Date: N/A
Current Response Date: N/A
Classification Code: A — Research and Development
NAICS Code: 541712
Contracting Office Address
NASA/Ames Research Center, JA:M/S 241-1, Moffett Field, CA 94035-0001
Description
NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) is seeking partners interested in developing competitive proposals in response to NASA Announcements of Opportunity (AOs) or other agency proposal calls. ARC is interested in partners that can perform science investigations and research activities, and develop and demonstrate new technologies. Information is also sought on potential partners that, in addition to performing substantial research, can provide hardware, equipment or instrumentation necessary to implement that proposed science investigation, research activity or technology demonstration missions. NASA selects and procures scientific investigations (missions) through the NASA Announcement of Opportunity (AO) Process. A single Principal Investigator (PI), Principle Technologist (PT), or Project Manager (PM) leads a mission investigation team. The PI, PT, or PM may be from any category of Government or non-Government institution, including educational institutions, industry or nonprofit organizations, or from one of the NASA Centers, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), other federally funded research and development centers, or other U.S. Government agencies. The mission team may be formed from any combination of these institutions. ARC may respond to an AO or other agency call in either a lead or support role.
This synopsis/special notice may be posted annually, and may be updated more frequently as information becomes available regarding ARC’s specific interests.
ARC is currently considering responding at a minimum to the announcements identified below:
Announcement of Opportunities from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. A full description of all of the different calls for proposals, from Astrophysics, Heliophysics and Earth Science and Planetary Science can all be found at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external , called Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES). Additional information is available at http://science.nasa.gov/researchers .
Earth Ventures – Instrument Program – http://essp.larc.nasa.gov/EV-I/
Explorer Program – http://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Discovery Program – http://discovery.nasa.gov/missions.cfml
Franklin Program – http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/468389main_Sponberg_forum_Small_Spacecraft_v7.pdf
Edison Program – http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/468389main_Sponberg_forum_Small_Spacecraft_v7.pdf
Office of Chief Technologist Programs, including Early Stage Innovation, Game Changing Technology and Crosscutting Capability Demos – http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/home/index.html .
POCs at ARC regarding these opportunities and partnering with Ames please contact: Anthony Strawa (Technical questions)Anthony.W.Strawa@nasa.gov, (650) 604-3437 or Kathleen Giffin (650) 604-2752 kathleen.r.giffin@nasa.gov.
Special Notice Response Instructions Potential partners are encouraged to submit written questions to the identified POC in writing. Pertinent information from questions and answers will be shared with all interested parties, without disclosing the identity of the sources of the questions.
Written responses shall:
1. Not exceed 10 pages per Mission proposal (MP).
2. Use an Arial font text with a size not smaller than 12 point.
3. Include all information requested in this notice.
4. Provide a Point of Contact to address questions from NASA.
Potential partners may submit their responses by email to the POCs listed above at any time. However, ARC reserves the right to complete its evaluation of responses for each planned annoucement in a time frame necessary to support timely submission of the ARC proposal. An electronic (PDF format) copy on CD must be submitted to Kathleen.R.Giffin@nasa.gov.
ARC reserves the right to hold optional oral presentations or written email exchanges with potential proposal partners to obtain additional information prior to selection.
All responders to this notice should be aware that NASA support service contractors may have access to their submittals. All information received in response to this notice that is marked Proprietary will be handled and protected accordingly. NASA support service contractors are under an obligation to keep third-party proprietary information in confidence. By submitting a response to this notice, the responder is deemed to have consented to release of proprietary information to such NASA support service contractors. Responses to this notice will not be returned.
This synopsis is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for information solicited.
All responders shall identify which announcement(s) is appropriate for their capability, however responses will be considered for partnering for any of the opportunities listed above or any future opportunity. Responses to this notice will serve as the basis for selection of proposal partners. Submitted responses will be maintained for possible future opportunities.
Information to be addressed by a responder is listed below:
Launch Vehicle
1. Identify the Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost.
2. Address launch vehicle capabilities and launch site services the responder has to offer.
3. Identify particularly critical or challenging areas overcome in previous work.
4. Discuss current capabilities for Integration and Test (I&T).
5. Identify responder’s support facilities for the launch vehicle.
6. Indicate the resources (skills and time) that would be allocated to the potential proposal development phase.
Spacecraft or bus or subsystems
1. Address spacecraft, bus, and/or subsystem mission element capabilities the responder has to offer.
2. Identify particularly critical or challenging areas overcome in previous work.
3. Identify spacecraft, bus, and/or subsystem relevance and compliance to the applicable mission class (class A, B, C, or D)
4. Discuss current capabilities for Integration and Test (I&T) flow of the spacecraft, bus and/or subsystem(s).
5. Identify ROM schedules and costs for spacecraft, bus and/or subsystem development.
6. List the skills available to support a spacecraft or subsystem(s) through all mission phases.
7. Identify responder’s support facilities for a spacecraft and/or subsystem(s) e.g. fabrication, I&T, storage. Etc.
8. Indicate the resources (skills and time) that would be allocated to the potential proposal development phase.
Payload, instrumentation or subsystems
1. Address payload, instrumentation and/or subsystem(s) mission element capabilities the responder has to offer.
2. Identify particularly critical or challenging areas overcome in previous work.
3. Identify payload, instrumentation, and/or subsystem relevance and compliance to the applicable mission class (class A, B, C, or D)
4. Discuss current capabilities for Integration and Test (I&T) flow for the payload(s), instrumentation, or subsystem(s).
5. Identify ROM schedules and costs for payload, instrument and/or subsystem development.
6. List the skills available to support a payload through all mission phases.
7. Identify responder’s support facilities for payload(s) e.g. fabrication, I&T, storage. Etc.
8. Indicate the resources (skills and time) that would be allocated to the potential proposal development phase.
Scientific concepts 1. Provide a research topic or mission concepts related to the particular AO of interest and why the topic is relevant to the AO. 2. Provide a concept of operations for the mission. 3. Identify existing or proposed partners, their role, the role of the responder’s organization, and the role of NASA Ames in the proposed mission. 4. Identify the Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost for the mission concept. 5. Address mission element capabilities the responder has to offer. 6. Indicate the resources (skills and time) that would be allocated to the potential proposal development phase.
The criteria for evaluation are listed below: ARC will evaluate the responses based on alignment with the Agency’s goals, compliance with the announcement requirements, feasibility and suitability of the concept and its match to Ames’ capabilities.
In addition to the information requested above, the following areas are considered highly important in the evaluation of responses to this notice:
* Ability to work as part of a government-industry team that may include other industrial partners, academia, and/or foreign partners.
* Innovative technical and partnering approaches that could be used to minimize cost without increasing overall mission risk.
* Demonstrated track record of developing low-cost spacecraft on-time in a schedule-constrained environment and at the agreed upon cost.
* History of delivering payloads with proven technical and cost performance. Also, if applicable- Depth of experience in spacecraft bus and/or payload management/development, including but not limited to: systems engineering, bus and/or payload fabrication and test, subcontract management, quality management, safety management, materials and processes/contamination control, payload integration and test support, observatory functional and environmental testing, shipment to the launch site, launch vehicle integration support, preparations for and the conduct of launch and early orbit checkout operations, on-orbit operation support, and sustaining engineering support including flight software maintenance.
Responses should include the following: Name and address of company or organization; Point of contact – address, website or email address, and phone number; Which type of partnership the responder is interested (Science Investigations or Research Ideas or Technology Demonstration); Answers to the relevant questions listed above; and a list of relevant partners/customers over the past five years, highlighting work performed.
If responder is a commercial firm, responses should also include: Size of business and number of employees; Average annual revenue for past 3 years; Ownership -whether they are large, small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), HUBZone, and/or woman-owned and whether the company is U.S. or internationally-owned; Number of years in business; and Affiliate information: parent company (US or international), joint venture partners potential teaming partners (prime contractor (if potential sub) or subcontractors (if potential prime); list of customers covering the past five years (highlight relevant work performed and point of contact and phone number.
No solicitation exists; therefore, please do not request a copy of a solicitation. If a solicitation is released it will be synopsized in FedBizOpps and on the NASA Acquisition Internet Service. It is the responder’s responsibility to monitor these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis. Information about major upcoming ARC procurement actionsare available at http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eis/admin/admin.cgi?center=ARC
Acronyms List AO — Announcement of Opportunity, ARC — Ames Research Center, I & T – Integration and Test, NASA — National Aeronautics and Space Administration, PI – Principal Investigator, POC — Point of Contact, ROM — Rough Order of Magnitude
Points of Contact
Technical: A.W. Strawa Title: Director, New Opportunities Center Phone: 650-604-3437 Anthony.W.Strawa@nasa.gov
Kathleen Giffin Title: Program Analyst, Strategic Management and Analysis Phone: 650-604-2752 kathleen.r.giffin@nasa.gov
Point of Contact
Name: Rachel Khattab
Title: Contracting Officer
Phone: 650-604-5237
Fax: 650-604-3020
Email: rachel.khattab@nasa.gov
