U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, WASC, Acquisition Management Division WC3, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Bin C15700, Seattle, WA 98115-0070

A -- DESIGN FOR NEPTUNE: FIBER OPTIC TELESCOPE TO INNER SPACE SOL RFI 9-1 DUE 021099 POC For further information, please contact Hugh Milburn at (206) 526-6169. Request For Information on the Design Study for NEPTUNE: Fiber Optic Telescope to Inner Space Introduction: A government and institutional partnership has been formed under the National Ocean Partnership Program (see http://core.cast.insstate.edu/NOPPpg1.html) to conduct a design for implementing a series of interactive seafloor observatories (NEPTUNE) to investigate highly active plate tectonic and oceanographic systems (see http://core.cast.msstate.edu/NOPPpg105.htm]#designstudy). The goal is to develop a national facility based at some suitable web hub in the Northwest that will allow investigators from around the globe real-time access to suites of instruments located on and around the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate off the Washington-Oregon coast. It is envisioned that this system will allow scientists to connect hardware for monitoring processes at spreading centers, subduction zones, as well as, on the plate and in the overlying ocean (e.g., vents, life in extreme environments and plate movement).The scientists will require electrical power at their remote sites as well as high speed, two-way data and control communications. We envision hundreds to thousands of instruments will be connected to this fiber-optic network and an array of autonomous vehicles that would be capable of responding to short term perturbations in parts of the system. Description: A state-of-the-art fiber-optic trunk cable to include power will be the backbone of the system. The trunk cable from a coastal landing site will include 600 to 800 miles of electro/optical cable deployed with a number of branches to service the major areas of interest on the plate. This trunk cable will need to provide at least 3 to 5 kW of electrical power and a bi-directional data handling and control system operating in the multi-gigabit/sec range. The terminus of each branch requires a junction box capable of providing power and data connections for interchangeable suites of scientific instruments or environmental monitoring devices. The scientificend user systems connected to the junction boxes may be in the form of instrument suites connected by miles of cable or docking stations for autonomous vehicles. Scientific system connections to the junction boxes need to allow for either remotely operated vehicle intervention or be capable of returning to a surface ship for service. The shore end of the trunk cable will have power supplied at a beach station; a high-speed data link will connect the system to the hub. Request: The study team wants information from interested companies that have the capability of being a "systems contractor" or "Industrial partner" to help conceptualize such a system with proven technologies. Interested companies should have expertise in design, fabrication, installation, and maintenance of compete sub-sea cable systems, including software and power architectures. This study will lead the Partners to seek funding from a variety of sources for the final facility. Response Instructions: We request that by February 10, 1999 interested companies supply a brief description of their capabilities and representative cable systems with which they have been involved. Based on these inputs, we will evaluate the capabilities and potential suitability of responsive companies to this project. Follow-on efforts will focus on developing realistic design parameters and operational plans that will be sued in this design study. Please respond in writing by either mail or fax to POC: Hugh Milburn, NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, Tel. 206 526 6169 or Fax 206 526 6744, email milburn@pmel.noaa.gov. RFI Disclaimer: All data received in response to the RFI will be treated as proprietary and will be used only by the NEPTUNE partners to help evaluate the present state of technology and determine sources of competent industrial contractors who can provide a trunk cable system. The data will not be released or presented outside of the NEPTUNE Partners group without permission. This request is for information only. It does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the Government or its Partners will take procurement action in this particular matter. The Partners will not be responsible for any costs incurred in furnishing this information. *PARTNERS:NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, University of Washington, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Posted 01/25/99 (W-SN291167). (0025)

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