NASA/Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 144, Industry Assistance Office, Hampton, VA 23681-0001

A -- DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM STUDY SOL 1-075-DIH.1431 DUE 052698 POC Evangeline G. Poulson, Purchasing Agent, Phone (757)-864-2433, Fax (757) 864-9774, Email E.G.POULSON@larc.nasa.gov -- R. Todd Lacks, Contract Specialist, Phone (757) 864-2477, Fax (757) 864-7709, Email r.t.lacks@larc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.nasa.gov/EPS/LaRC/date.html#1-075-DIH.1431. E-MAIL: Evangeline G. Poulson, E.G.POULSON@larc.nasa.gov. NASA/LaRC plans to issue a solicitation for a design study entitled, "Concepts in Composites Applied to a Large Deployable Array Antenna". The basic objective of the design study is as follows: 1.0 Introduction Technologies in Synthetic Thinned Array Radiometry (STAR) for applications in earth science observations from space are being developed by NASA. These applications include measurements of soil moisture for global hydrology, polar ice monitoring for navigation and global climate modeling, and mapping of ocean surface wind vector. Requirements for high spatial resolution on the surface demand large viewing apertures. At relatively low microwave frequencies this translates to physically large antenna systems. For example, instruments designed to measure soil moisture at 1.43 GHz require antenna dimensions of 10 meters, or more. Aperture synthesis and array thinning in microwave radiometry offer the promise of relatively low weight and small launch packages for antennas in this class. Research is being conducted at Langley Research Center with the objective of minimizing the weight and packaging size of these systems. 2.0 Objective Specifically, the objective in this study is to minimize the weight in STAR antenna deployment systems for the soil moisture application with the use of advanced composites technology. A typical design concept for a 10 m class STAR deployable antenna at 1.43 GHz includes a deployable truss structure composed of cylindrical composite tubes and metal joints at the nodes. Even though the use of composites reduces weight, this particular concept retains approximately 50 percent of the system weight in metal parts. The motivation for this study is to develop an alternative concept that more completely exploits composites technology to further reduce system weight. The solicitation, including the complete Statement of Work, will be posted on the NASA LaRC Business Opportunities Home Page on or about 05/08/98 This procurement is being conducted under the Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP). The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12. See Note 26. This procurement is a total small business set-aside. The SIC Code and Size Standard are 8742 and $5 million, respectively. The quoter shall state in their quotation their size status for this procurement. The DPAS Rating for this procurment is DO-C9. The anticipated release date of RFQ 1-075-DIH.1431 is on or about 05/08/98 with an anticipated quote due date of on or about 05/26/98. Questions regarding this acquisition must be submitted in writing no later than 05/20/98. All qualified responsible small businesses may submit a quote which shall be considered by the agency. Award will be based upon overall best value to the Government, with consideration given to the factors of proposed technical merits, price and past performance; other critical requirements (i.e., delivery) if so stated in the RFQ will also be considered. Unless otherwise stated in the solicitation, for selection purposes, technical, price and past performance are essentially equal in importance. It is critical that offerors provide adequate detail to allow evaluation of their offer (see 52.212-1(b)). An ombudsman has been appointed -- See Internet Note "B". The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. These documents will be in Microsoft Office Suite (Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, or PowerPoint 4.0) format and will reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The WWW address, or URL of the NASA/LaRC Business Opportunities home page is http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/LaRC/class.html. Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor this site for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential quoters will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Any referenced notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nnotes.htm. (0126)

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