NASA Sources Sought Notice: Exploration System of Systems Engineering and Integration Services

General Information

Document Type: Sources Sought Notice
Solicitation Number: NNT05105795J-3
Posted Date: Apr 03, 2005
Original Response Date: Apr 21, 2005
Current Response Date: Apr 21, 2005
Original Archive Date: Apr 03, 2006
Current Archive Date: Apr 03, 2006
Classification Code: A — Research & Development
Naics Code: 541990 — All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

Contracting Office Address

NASA – Headquarters, Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), 300 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20546-0001

Description

The NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) is hereby soliciting information from potential sources for Systems Engineering & Integration (SE&I) services in support of the NASA Exploration Initiative (EI), a multi-mission, multi-decade, human and robotic effort to explore the Moon, Mars and beyond using a spiral development process to introduce important new technologies as they mature.    

Spiral 1 encompasses human space in low Earth orbit (LEO), Spiral 2, short human expeditions to the Moon, and Spiral 3, extended human lunar missions to test concepts for human missions to Mars.    

The EI architecture is a System of Systems (SoS) made up of elements such as the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), Earth Departure Stage (EDS), Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM), and launch vehicles.    

ESMD is the NASA Headquarters organization responsible for EI strategic planning and top level management.    

More information can be found at the following url: http://www.exploration.nasa.gov.

While the SE&I task extends over all EI levels and for the full duration of the EI effort, this solicitation is limited to SE&I services exclusive of those that involve top level NASA strategic planning and development of individual EI elements, for a duration of a 3-year base period with two 18-month options.    

Potential sources are sought with capabilities in the following broad task areas:

1) Program Management,

2) Safety and Mission Assurance,

3) Research and Technology Development Management,

4) Systems Management,

5) Systems Analysis and Simulation Based Acquisition,

6) Requirements Definition and Functional Analysis,

7) Design and Development Analytical Integration,

8) Test and Verification, and

9) Operations and Sustaining Engineering.    

Task areas in more detail follow:

1) Program Management: Define, monitor and improve SE&I techniques, work with all EI levels, implement cross-organizational Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD) teams to expedite progress, and develop effective interfaces with all EI partners, which potentially include contractors, academia, other government agencies, and international partners.    

2) Safety and Mission Assurance: Ensure safety, reliability, maintainability and quality assurance through all mission phases to effectively satisfy system performance requirements and achieve mission objectives.

3) Research and Technology Development Management: Analyze technology gaps, development risks, and potential markets. Develop acceptance and verification criteria for technology insertion. Define off ramps for risk mitigation.

4) Systems Management: Provide and implement an approach to planning, organizing, monitoring and controlling the development of the end-to-end ESMD SoS architecture to assure that it meets operational requirements, both as individual elements as well as when elements are integrated and new technologies are infused. Organize and conduct reviews, such as System Requirements Review (SRR), Preliminary Design Review (PDR), Critical Design Review (CDR), and Flight Readiness Review (FRR). Combine lower-level inputs to develop integrated budgets and schedules.

5) Systems Analysis and Simulation Based Acquisition (SBA): Create and use a federation-based distributed modeling and simulation capability to support system architecture studies and the transfer and management of engineering data across all program organizations and throughout the life cycle of the program. Select preferred SoS and System level design solutions by evaluating and refining competing architectures.    

6) Requirements Definition and Functional Analysis: Perform analysis and decomposition of ESMD SoS requirements to form, allocate and manage performance requirements at the element level, as well as requirements for margins, technology, interface definition, testing, and verification.    

7) Design Synthesis, Manufacturing, and Assembly: Maintain technical insight into the design, development, margin management, manufacturing and assembly processes, and individual EI element-based integrated performance. Ensure use of compatible techniques for analysis, interface control and verification. Ensure a common SoS perspective among all lower-level project processes. Maintain technical insight into the SoS end-to-end subsystems (such as Structures, Thermal Control, Environmental Control and Life Support, EVA Support, Propulsion, Guidance Navigation and Control (GN&C), Electrical Power, Avionics) to evaluate their impact of the end-end SoS.

8) Test and Verification: Plan and execute Testing and Verification (T&V) of multi-element integrated systems, including simulations. Resolve test anomalies.

9) Operations and Sustaining Engineering: Develop operations requirements and evaluate how operation concepts impact the EI SoS.    

Perform mission planning, operations training, mission analysis, anomaly resolution and supportability. Sustain program with anomaly analysis and resolution, and recommendations for element block upgrades to accommodate future spirals. Responses must include the following: name and address of firm, capabilities related to the task areas above, size of business; average annual revenue for past 3 years and number of employees; ownership; whether they are large, small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), HUBZone, and/or woman-owned; number of years in business; affiliate information: parent company, joint venture partners; intent to participate in the upcoming acquisition as a prime offeror; list of customers covering the past five years (highlight relevant work performed, contract numbers, contract type, dollar value of each procurement; and point of contact – address and phone number). The page limitation for this submission is five(5) pages.

All responses shall be submitted electronically to systemsengineering@nasa.gov no later than April 21, 2005, 4:30 PM EST.

Please reference NNT05105795J-3 in any response.    

This is a Sources Sought synopsis. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released it 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. 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.

Point of Contact

Rosemary C Froehlich, Contracting Officer, Phone (202) 252-0121, Fax (202) 252-0100, Email Rosemary.C.Froehlich@nasa.gov

Email your questions to Rosemary C Froehlich at Rosemary.C.Froehlich@nasa.gov