SOLICITATION NOTICE
99 -- NOTICE OF INTENT TO NEGOTIATE A COLLABORATION AGREEMENT RELATED TO THE NASA MARS EXPLORATION ROVER-2003 PROJECT
- Notice Date
- 7/15/2002
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code 210.H, Greenbelt, MD 20771
- ZIP Code
- 20771
- Solicitation Number
- 10-00038
- Response Due
- 8/1/2002
- Point of Contact
- David B Lavery, ASTEP Program Executive, Phone (202) 358-4684, Fax (202) 358-0000, Email david.lavery@hq.nasa.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
Email your questions to David B Lavery
(david.lavery@hq.nasa.gov)
- Description
- Statement of Purpose NASA seeks an unfunded collaboration with a commercial or non-profit organization to define, organize and execute a nationwide contest for K-12 students in U.S. schools to select names for the two robotic Mars rovers launching in 2003. In some cases where there is significant private investment, provision of value-added public benefits and value to NASA, the Agency may contemplate limited exclusive offers, under certain conditions, such as: ? Official designation ? Association with NASA This request for entrepreneurial offer outlines the minimum requirement for such a contest. NASA is interested in receiving from U.S. companies, academic institutions or non-profit organizations any creative recommendations to accomplishing these minimums and/or any additional ideas that may result in increased public involvement in NASA's exploration of Mars. It is intended that this request for entrepreneurial offer will result in the establishment of a non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement that will define the full roles and responsibilities of NASA and the proposing organization (for information on Space Act Agreements, please see http://www.hq.nasa.gov/ogc/samanual.html). Mission Background The rovers, equipped with cameras and other scientific instruments, are central to NASA's Mars Exploration Rover-2003 (MER-2003) mission, which seeks clues to the history of water on Mars. Launching in May/June and June/July 2003, the rovers will land on Mars in January/February 2004. The rovers are part of a single mission, yet each rover will have a mission of its own. Each rover will be launched on a separate launch vehicle and will have a separate space flight and landing area. The mission calls for each rover to operate on the surface of Mars for three months, utilizing identical suites of science instruments to conduct similar investigations in different regions of the planet. The mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, where the rovers are being built. JPL also will be home to the rover mission operations and data return. Project Background: "Name the Rovers" Competition Names for NASA missions, spacecraft, landers, and rovers ultimately will be selected by the responsible program managers at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Submissions of candidate names, however, may be gathered through a variety of methods, including contests that invite participation by K-12 students. By focusing the Mars Exploration Rover-2003 "Name the Rovers" contest on K-12 entries, NASA seeks to engage U.S. students in the engineering and scientific enterprise behind Mars exploration in furtherance of national goals to stimulate interest in science, mathematics and technology education. NASA views such contests as opportunities that further the Agency objectives to inform the public and distribute knowledge gained from the space program to a broad audience. To support these objectives, NASA has determined that all suggestions for potential names for the two MER-2003 rovers will be gathered through a "Name the Rovers" competition with broad K-12 student participation. For the 1997 Mars Pathfinder mission, a contest was conducted by a non-profit scientific organization inviting U.S. students to submit names with accompanying essays. Approximately 93,000 entries were received for the Mars Pathfinder rover. The winning entry, "Sojourner," in honor of abolitionist Sojourner Truth, was submitted by a middle-school student who received national recognition for her contribution. She also received an all-expenses-paid trip (provided by the sponsoring organization) to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the launch of the Pathfinder mission. Because such contests draw considerable public interest, the process of registering, sorting, evaluating and judging entries is labor-intensive and requires careful consideration of entries and feedback to entrants. At the same time, such contests present excellent opportunities to engage the interest of young Americans in space science and exploration, its objectives, and the advances it produces in science, math, engineering and technology and knowledge in general. Scope This request will be open through three weeks following date of release of this announcement. All proposals must be received by August 1, 2002, to be considered. The successful offeror will agree to conduct a contest during the 2002 fall-winter semester to evaluate, select and deliver to JPL by Feb. 15, 2003, the top 25 names that have been proposed and the associated nomination essays submitted by the students. JPL will recommend a subset of the 10 names to NASA Headquarters by March 30, 2003. NASA Headquarters will make final selections prior to the launch of the rovers in May and June 2003. Benefits to a Corporate Partner In exchange for the creation and facilitation of the naming contest, NASA may consider negotiating limited exclusivity and other opportunities as part of a strategic collaboration. Consideration may be made for those offers that are commensurate and reflect NASA mission, values and goals. The selected offeror would have an opportunity to be part of a historic mission, one that helps NASA reach its mission and outreach goals. Secondly, the selected offeror would have the appropriate level of acknowledgement as a partner with NASA, commensurate with the offeror's added value return to the Agency. The Mars Pathfinder project attracted extraordinary public awareness and interest, on an international level. During the course of the project there was extensive coverage through virtually all media outlets, over one billion hits were observed on project Web sites, and the project received extensive attention in multiple public forums (including academic, Congressional and industry communities). It is our expectation that the MER-2003 project will receive even more attention. This offers intrinsic value to potential project partners. Deliverables: Deliverables include, but are not limited to: - Monthly reports from September through December 2002 on: o The number of schools, children's organizations and students reached directly and indirectly through the proposed advertising strategies; o Number of respondents from each school/city/state at each grade level; o Post-selection plan for making any awards or prizes. - A January 2003 report that includes: o The top 25 nominations and rationale for their selection; o Final data on contest participation; o Advertising and/or educational programs associated with the winners or winning submissions. - The contest organizer will preserve relevant data on the numbers of entries received, the most commonly suggested names, the most unique names, and the locations in the U.S. or its territories from which entries are received. All submitted nomination essays become the property of NASA. - Weekly status teleconference Term of Agreement The Space Act Agreement will be in effect from the time of selection through completion of proposed activities, or no later than the landing of the second rover, which is scheduled for February 2004. There are no options for renewal. Instructions for Proposal Preparation Offerors' proposals will be judged on their educational value and the expected breadth and depth of penetration into the national K-12 student population via the mass media and traditional channels into the classroom. Offerors are strongly encouraged to develop the plan in coordination with a nationally recognized education association or similar professional educator network of the offeror's choosing. A key goal of this effort is to inspire American youth in science, math, engineering and technology learning; creative collaborations between commercial and non-profit educational organizations in furtherance of this objective are encouraged. The successful proposal will include: - A plan to launch and manage a contest inviting K-12 students nationwide to submit, at no charge, names for one or both of the two Mars Exploration Mission rovers (currently known as MER A and MER B). Student-written essays of 500 or fewer words will explain the nomination. Submissions from students will be invited in the fall of the 2002 school year, and will be accepted through the end of December 2002. Both electronic mail and paper mail delivery (including submission by compact disc) will be accepted as means of submission. Proposals must include the process for handling electronic submissions. - A description of roles and responsibilities of contest coordinators, and the management structure of the implementation team. - A description of how the contest will be conducted, including how entries from widely varying age groups will be judged based on grade-appropriate evaluations. In addition, it should include how the contest will be widely advertised, how it will be evaluated and by whom, qualifications of contest judges, how duplicate entries (same name proposed by multiple entrants) will be judged, and what recognition, benefits and/or prizes all entrants shall receive. The offeror also must describe how personal information, submitted by the essay authors, will be protected (most, if not all, of the authors will be minors) and any proposed, additional use of that information. - A schedule of key events in the process. - Description of the educational plan for the contest and how it will reinforce student learning. - Description of additional activities to increase public involvement in NASA exploration of Mars. Threshold Requirements All proposals must comply with the following to be considered: ? Demonstrable ability to design, conduct and manage this competition under the parameters described. ? Organization and its proposal are consistent with NASA mission, objectives and values. ? No requirement of personal endorsement or personnel participation in advertising or marketing by NASA officials or employees. ? Compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1972, the Child Online Privacy Protection Act and any other applicable Federal laws. Evaluation and Award Process Evaluation Criteria The five evaluation criteria listed below are in a descending order of importance. The government will make award for the proposal that is most advantageous to the government based on these five factors. 1. Educational benefits associated with participation in the "Name the Rovers" competition. 2. Breadth and depth of penetration into the K-12 student population by the proposed activity (e.g. awareness of, and access to, the "Name the Rovers" competition by all geographic and socio-economic segments). 3. Demonstrated ability to design, construct, and manage the "Name the Rovers" competition under the guidelines stated in this solicitation, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the review and recommendation process. Include documented ability to accept, review, store, summarize and deliver the received nomination essays and associated summary and demographic statistics (e.g. distribution of submissions by geographic, economic (urban, rural, etc.) and educational region, grade-level participation). 4. Additional value and benefits to NASA. 5. Ease and availability of the nomination process to participating students. General Conditions Offerors must understand that NASA, as a taxpayer-funded Agency, must make its information available to the broadest possible audience. While some limited exclusivity may be possible, proposals that would severely restrict participation in the competition will be unacceptable. Special Agreement Conditions Following NASA's guidelines, names of current or proposed space missions cannot be used, and if a rover is to be named after a person, that person must be deceased with no post mortem right of publicity. The rovers cannot be called by names already adopted by any previous, present or planned astronomical observatory (domestic or international). Names may not include terms reserved for ongoing NASA flight programs (e.g., Explorer, Discovery, Navigator). A trademark search shall be performed before a final selection of a name is made to uncover any possible trademarks that could cause confusion. Further information on official names for major NASA projects may be found at the following Web site: http://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/library/displayDir.cfm?Internal_ID=N_PD_7620_001 G_&page_name=main The naming contest must be open to all students who, in the fall of 2002, will be in grades K-12 in the U.S. (including U.S. possessions and schools operated by the U.S. for the children of American personnel overseas), except employees directly affiliated with NASA, JPL, the California Institute of Technology, the offeror's organizations/companies, and their immediate families. Any Web sites created in conjunction with this project must be fully accessible to the disabled, according to the 1998 amendment of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1972, and comply with the Child Online Privacy Protection Act and any other applicable federal laws. This request has no relationship to any other NASA request. Participation in this effort is strictly voluntary with no cost or obligation to be incurred by NASA. NASA will in no way be obligated to purchase all or any part of the information provided. This request is not to be construed as a commitment by NASA, nor will NASA pay for the information solicited. Respondents will be sent an acknowledgement of the receipt of their materials. Any questions regarding this request should be directed to the identified point of contact. Submittals should be limited to no more than ten pages (including cover), double-spaced, 1" margins using Times New Roman 12-point type. Submissions may be in either hard-copy format or on compact disk in PDF format. Submissions must be received at the address indicated below no later than 4:30 pm Eastern time, on August 1, 2002. Proposals hand-carried or delivered by commercial couriers must arrive at NASA's Shipping and Receiving, rear of the building, at the street address below. NASA will use submissions only for evaluation purposes under this announcement. All proprietary information must be clearly marked in the proposals. Submit Proposals to: David Lavery, Code SM NASA Headquarters 300 E Street, SW Washington, DC 20546 For more information: 202-358-4800
- Web Link
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- Record
- SN00116820-W 20020717/020715213613 (fbodaily.com)
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