NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Centennial Challenges Day

General Information

Document Type: Special Notice

Solicitation Number: NASA-SNOTE-041105-003

Posted Date: Nov 05, 2004

Original Response Date:

Current Response Date:

Original Archive Date: Nov 05, 2005

Current Archive Date: Nov 05, 2005

Classification Code: 99 — Miscellaneous

Contracting Office Address

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code 210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771

Description

NASA EXPLORATION SYSTEMS MISSION DIRECTORATE CENTENNIAL CHALLENGES DAY

At a special announcement event, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will present an overview of the Centennial Challenges program and an explanation of two Requests For Information (RFI) and one Announcement of Partnership Opportunity (APO) that will be released on November 5, 2004. The event will be conducted on November 15, 2004, at NASA Headquarters, James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E Street SW, Washington DC from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

AGENDA

• Introduction of Brant Sponberg
• Welcoming Remarks
• Introduction to Centennial Challenges
• Description of RFI for Flagship and Keystone Challenge Support
• Description of RFI for Quest Challenge Support
• Description of APO for Co-Sponsorship and Alliance Challenges
• Question and Answer Session
• Adjournment

BACKGROUND

The objective of this event is to familiarize participants with the Centennial Challenges program, to describe the Request For Information (RFI) and Announcement of Partnership Opportunity (APO) documents that were released on November 5, 2004, and to respond to questions about these topics. Please note that the presentations will be unclassified and restricted in topic to Centennial Challenges and the released RFIs and APO. Both RFI documents are designed to solicit information pertaining to potential support contracts for future challenges that Centennial Challenges may conduct. Because it was felt that the challenges that focus on technology development (the “Flagship” and “Keystone” categories) would require sufficiently different support contracts than the challenges that focus on outreach (the “Quest” category), it was decided to release two separate RFIs instead of a single RFI for all challenges. In contrast to the RFIs, the APO document is looking for organizations who may want to contribute to or participate in Centennial Challenges activities.

The APO has two distinct goals.

1. To identify potential Co-Sponsor Organizations interested in contributing cash towards the purse(s) for one or more prize competitions.

2. To identify potential Allied Organizations interested in making in-kind contributions toward the administration of one or more prize competitions. How an organization can offer to become a Co-Sponsor or an Allied Organization and the evaluation criteria NASA will use in the selection process of each is described in the APO.

The Centennial Challenges Day will address questions and comments regarding the Centennial Challenges program, the Centennial Challenges competition categories     “Flagship”, “Keystone”, “Alliance”, and “Quest”), and the content of the RFIs and APO documents mentioned above. NOTICE All Challenges are still in the formulation stage, and no final decision has been made on whether or not to initiate the Challenges described in the RFIs and APO. Decisions to issue specific Challenges and their rules will be determined at later dates. In some cases, these decisions are pending Congressional authorization for NASA to conduct large prize competitions. Before responses to these RFI and APO documents are received it is not possible to determine the specific number of challenges that will be adversely affected by the current lack of Congressional authority.

WEBCAST

If you are unable to attend this event, you can watch a live webcast or post-event streaming video from the Centennial Challenges web site at the following URL: http://realserver1.jpl.nasa.gov:8080/ramgen/encoder/hq04.rm The webcast link will become live on the morning of Monday, November 15, 2004.

PRE-REGISTRATION

Any individuals who plan to attend the Centennial Challenges Day can pre-register at the following web site: http://exploration.nasa.gov/centennialchallenge/preregistration.html The deadline for pre-registration is Monday, November 15, 2004 at 8:00 a.m. EDT.

REGISTRATION AT THE DOOR

Any individuals who plan to attend the Centennial Challenges Day can register at the door immediately prior to the event starting at 9:00 a.m. and will be asked to complete a registration form. All attendees should enter the west entry doors of the NASA Headquarters building. Upon arrival, all participants will be required to check in at the registration table located in the lobby and show photo identification.

PRESS

News media interested in attending are required to pre-register and should contact Mike Braukus at 202-358-1979 for additional information.

NON-U.S. CITIZENS

Foreign national attendees (i.e., non-U.S. citizens) are required to pre-register and submit their passport number with their pre-registration email.

SECURITY

Event attendees will not be required to check in at the security desk to obtain a visitor’s badge. However, participants will be subject to personal inspection (e.g., passing through a metal detector), prior to entering the auditorium.

DIRECTIONS

Directions to NASA Headquarters can be seen on the web at the following URL: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/hq/map.htm Driving Parking lots are located nearby the NASA Headquarters building. Check the local yellow pages or internet for exact locations. Metro Metro stops nearest NASA Headquarters are L’Enfant Plaza (orange, blue, yellow, and green lines) and Federal Center SW (orange and blue lines). >From L’Enfant Plaza station, take the Department of Transportation exit and turn left at the top of the escalators. Head east (on School St. or E St. SW) and south (on 4th or 6th St. SW) to arrive at the west entrance of the NASA building near the corner of E St. SW and 4th St. SW. >From the exit of the Federal Center SW metro station, head south on 3rd St. SW and then west on E St. SW to arrive at the west entrance of the NASA building near the corner of E St. SW and 4th St. SW.

Point of Contact

Ken Davidian, Deputy Project Manager for Centennial Challenges, Phone (202) 358-0748, Fax (202) 358-3342, Email kdavidia@hq.nasa.gov – Rhett Herrera, Contracting Officer, Phone (202) 358-3633, Fax (202) 358-3342, Email rhett.a.herrera@nasa.gov

Email your questions to Ken Davidian at kdavidia@hq.nasa.gov