SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR FUTURE SPACE VALIDATION OF EARTH SCIENCETECHNOLOGIES
- Notice Date
- 10/27/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771
- ZIP Code
- 20771
- Solicitation Number
- NNH12ZDA005L
- Response Due
- 12/31/2011
- Archive Date
- 10/27/2012
- Point of Contact
- Mr. Michael Pasciuto, Lead, ESTO Advanced Planning Group, Phone 301-286-0006, Fax 301-286-0321, Email michael.pasciuto@nasa.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
Mr. Michael Pasciuto
(michael.pasciuto@nasa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NASAs Science Mission Directorate (SMD) currently sponsors a number of flightmissions, divided between missions in development and missions in operations. One ofSMDs programmatic objectives is to maximize the science return for the Nation within theavailable budget. One method of doing this is to space flight validate key newtechnologies to reduce their risk to future science missions. This Request forInformation (RFI) solicits information for specific classes of missions to validate keyEarth science technologies. Responses to this RFI will be used to inform NASAs programplanning.Background:The Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) manages technology development for the EarthScience Division at NASA Headquarters. Information on the ESTO program can be found athttp://esto.nasa.gov/. There has been and continues to be a need for some new technologies to be validated inspace prior to use in a science mission. This is necessary because the space environmentimposes stringent conditions on components and systems, some of which cannot be fullytested on the ground or in airborne systems. This RFI specifically excludes ground orairborne validation. Infusion of new technologies into missions may depend on the riskreduction provided through space flight validation. In addition, some sciencemeasurements can only be fully validated through a demonstration in space. ESTO is mostinterested in science instrument and information system technologies.ESTO is funding several CubeSat-based technology validations as part of a pathfinderprocess. ESTO is now interested in defining the parameters of a possible futurecompetitive program to space validate selected Earth science technologies. That futureprogram is the focus of this RFI. The program may consist of one or two parts. The firstpart would be a continuation of the current CubeSat-based validations or validation usingsuborbital reusable launch vehicles (sRLV). The second part would be a somewhat morerobust program, expanding the class of possible technologies to validate. NASA is issuingthis RFI to seek the high-level details of various projects which might fit in either oneor the other of these classes. Class 1 (CubeSat or sRLV) validations are limited to abudget of less than $5 million and a schedule of 3 years or less. Class 2 validations arelimited to a budget of less than $20 million and a schedule of 5 years or less. In bothcases the schedule limit includes the time required for the actual in-space validation ofthe target technology.Definition: 'CubeSat' refers to a type of nanosatellite, the dimensions of which areabout 10x10x11 centimeters each (i.e., a 'Cube' or a '1U'). CubeSats typically range from1U to 6U in volume and are limited in weight to no more than 1.33 kilograms per 1U Cube.Suborbital reusable launch vehicles are managed for NASA through the Flight OpportunitiesProgram (https://flightopportunities.nasa.gov/ ).Award: There will be no award associated with this announcement.Requested Information:The response to this RFI will be in the form of a PDF document that is uploaded throughNASAs NSPIRES system (see Instructions below).Respondents are asked to provide information on a space flight project which could meet aparticular need for Earth science technology validation. Each response to the RFI shoulddescribe only one specific project and address the following topics, in this order:a. Indicate the program class: class 1 (<$5M, <= 3years) or class 2 (<$20M,<= 5years).b. Provide a description of the technology to be validated and its relevance to NASA'sEarth science needs.c. Provide a justification for why this particular technology or science measurementapproach needs space flight validation.d. Describe the system to be flown including the technology payload plus spacecraftaccommodation. Estimates of the mass, power, and data rate for the system should beprovided.e. Describe the approach for access to space (e.g. dedicated launch, secondary payload)as well as the orbit required.f. Provide an estimated total cost and schedule with any key details driving the cost.Cost should be broken down in terms of management, system engineering, payload,spacecraft, launch and operations. The schedule should indicate the length of the periodsfor development and operations.Instructions:Page Limitation: The response must be limited to 5 pages. A page is defined as one (1)sheet 8.5 x 11 inches with one inch margins using a minimum of 12-point font size fortext and 8-point for graphs. All responses submitted in response to this RFI must be submitted in electronic form viaNSPIRES, the NASA online announcement data management system, located athttp://nspires.nasaprs.com/. For this RFI, a response submission will take the formof a Notice of Intent (NOI) within the NSPIRES online announcement data managementsystem. The RFI response itself will be a PDF-formatted document that is attached(uploaded) to the NSPIRES system.You must be registered with NSPIRES to submit a RFI response. See registrationinstructions at http://nspires.nasaprs.com(select Getting an account). Neitherinstitution registration nor an institution affiliation is required to respond to thisRFI.1.1.Log in to your account at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/.2.2.Select Proposals from your account page.3.3.Select Create NOI from your proposals page.4.4.Click Continue on the next page.5.5.Select Request for Information: NNH12ZDA005L (Future Space Validation ofEarth Science Technologies) from the bullet list of announcements. Click Continue.6.6.Enter RFI response title (NOI title field will be shown).7.7.Select do not link at this time for submitting organization page.8.8.Click Save on next page.9.9.It is not necessary to complete any of the NOI Details; all requestedinformation must be included in the attached PDF document. Information which is enteredinto NOI Details but not included in the attached PDF document will not be considered.10.10.Prepare your RFI response offline and save as a PDF document (noteNSPIRES instructions on.pdf formats). The response document must include therespondents Name, institution, phone number, and E-mail address so the file isself-contained. File names format should be Respondent Last Name - First Name - RFI.The response should not exceed five pages in length.11.11.To attach (upload) your PDF document:a.a.Click add under NOI attachments section;b.b.Select Proposal Document from the drop down list;c.c.Browse to attach your PDF file;d.d.Select Upload;e.e.Click OK;f.f.Your RFI document has been uploaded to NSPIRES.g.12.Click Submit NOI button. NOTE that this does not complete thesubmission process.h.13.Ignore any warnings about incomplete NOI elements. Ensure that your NOIdocument is attached and click Continue.i.14.Click Submit. This will take you to the NOI submission confirmationpage, which provides you with the NOI/RFI number for your records.Please note: You may delete and replace form fields and uploaded documents anytime beforethe submission deadline. Submitted NOIs cannot be deleted.
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