NASA JSC Solicitation: Constellation Communications Command Control and Information
Synopsis – Apr 18, 2007
General Information
Solicitation Number: N/A
Reference Number: BT-CC3I-RFI
Posted Date: Apr 18, 2007
FedBizOpps Posted Date: Apr 18, 2007
Original Response Date: May 15, 2007
Current Response Date: May 15, 2007
Classification Code: 99 — Miscellaneous
NAICS Code: 541330 – Engineering Services
Contracting Office Address
NASA/Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas, 77058-3696, Mail Code: BT
Description
This notice is issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) to post a Request for Information (RFI) via the Internet, and to solicit responses from Industry.
This request is for information and planning purposes only, and is intended to allow industry the opportunity to verify the reasonableness and feasibility of requirements and interface definitions, to raise NASA?s awareness of applicable industry products, and to lead to more informed decisions.
All responses received will be evaluated and considered for inclusion in a resultant action should an action be warranted by NASA. However, NASA makes no commitment to any action or to make any particular recommendation. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. A solicitation is not planned at this time, should this change any solicitations will be synopsized in FedBizOpps and on the NASA Acquisition Internet Service. It is the potential offeror?s responsibility to monitor these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis. Responses to this RFI will not be returned.
NASA invites you to submit a response to this RFI to assist in NASA?s efforts to mature preliminary documents related to the communications, command, control, and information requirements to be levied on NASA?s Constellation missions. The consistent application of existing industry standards and the judicious development of common approaches to meet Constellation requirements are intended to reduce schedule and cost risk to the program, enable interoperability between space, ground and surface assets, and allow for the deployment of common hardware and software solutions across multiple assets.
NASA has posted multiple Volumes of the Constellation Program?s Communications, Command, Control and Information (C3I) Interoperability Specification (in a variety of states of maturity, ranging from draft to baseline) at the following website associated with this RFI:
http://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/c3i/default.asp
Additional presentation materials or documents may be made available at this site for background information only. A ?README.DOC? file has also been included on the site that provides additional information for the reviewer, including the current maturity levels of the documents and indications of their status.
NASA recognizes the importance of industry involvement in the validation of the key interface requirements to be placed on future NASA programs. Through this RFI, NASA seeks validation of its latest space communications and data system requirements for the Crew Exploration Vehicle and supply vehicles; launch vehicles including the Crew Launch Vehicle; ground-based mission control centers for launch and long-term operations; and lunar surface systems. In addition to validation of existing space system requirements, NASA also seeks new and innovative approaches to the development and operations of its ground and space data systems. It is imperative that the proposed approaches meet NASA?s cost and schedule constraints, while also meeting the long-term objectives of interoperability, flexibility and evolvability. In addition, it is NASA?s goal to make prudent use of existing technologies, standards, and commercial products to the maximum extent, while meeting the ambitious goals of the next several decades.
The objective of this RFI is to request specific comments and suggestions pertaining to the information provided in the C3I Interoperability Specification and to request general information on existing commercial products which support common command and control functionality for space missions (often referred to as ?mission control software? or ?telemetry and command systems?). Responses are requested to any or all of the following topics:
1. Specific Volume Critique. General and specific comments and recommendations against sections or specific requirements or other contents of the Volumes of the C3I Interoperability Specification.
2. Suggestions and rationale regarding the extent of commonality across missions within the area of command and control. For example, the possible advantages to common command buffer formats and dump capabilities.
3. Novel architectural constructs for a mix of NASA, military, and commercial communications assets (both ground and space based) for command and data distribution from launch through lunar surface operations
4. Novel methods for the long term (20+ year) management, storage, and retrieval of system data and products.
5. Suggestions and rationale for the application of additional industry standards across a wide range of applications.
6. Available commercial products available for integration by the vendor or others to provide command and control capabilities within major mission control center data systems. Scope may include both hardware and software products covering the receipt of digital data streams to the processing of telemetry/command streams and the analysis of data, planning and scheduling, flight dynamics and data management. Information on flight-proven software systems may also be provided. This information is to be used by the NASA Constellation team to raise awareness of the current state of the practice in the area of commercial offerings.
Responses must include the: name and address of firm; size of business. For commercial product, responses should include the product name and description and at least two examples of missions for which it is in current use. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked Proprietary will be handled and protected accordingly. By submitting a response to this RFI, the responder has consented to release of Proprietary information to NASA support service contractors.
This RFI does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that NASA will take procurement action on this matter. Further, neither NASA, nor the Government, will be responsible for any cost incurred in furnishing this information. Respondents will not be notified of the results.
All responses to this RFI are due by May 15, 2007, to Mr. Keith Hutto by e-mail submittal to: keith.d.hutto@nasa.gov. The Technical Point of Contact, Lisa Spence at 281-792-5859. Please reference BT-CC3I-RFI and your company name in any response.
Although not preferred, companies may submit electronic copies of their submittal (CD, DVD) via the mail to:
NASA Johnson Space Center, Attn: BT/Keith Hutto, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058.
An ombudsman has been appointed — See NASA Specific Note “B”.
Any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.
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. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. Respondents deemed fully qualified will be considered in any resultant solicitation for the requirement.
The Government reserves the right to consider a small business or 8(a) set-aside based on responses hereto. Any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.
Point of Contact
Name: Keith D. Hutto
Title: Contracting Officer
Phone: 281-483-4165
Fax: 281-483-0503
Email: keith.d.hutto@nasa.gov
