SOURCES SOUGHT
A -- PHOENIX MISSILE HYPERSONIC TESTBED
- Notice Date
- 8/27/2007
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541710
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Dryden Flight Research Center, Code A, P.O. Box 273, Edwards, CA 93523-0273
- ZIP Code
- 93523-0273
- Solicitation Number
- 541710
- Response Due
- 10/31/2007
- Archive Date
- 8/27/2008
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This notice is issued by the NASA/DFRC to post a Request for Information (RFI) via the internet and to solicit information from interested parties regarding support of hypersonic flight experiments for NASA?s Phoenix Missile Hypersonics Testbed (PMHT). Researchers without specific experiments, but with general interest in hypersonics flight test, are encouraged to respond. This document is for information and planning purposes and to allow interested parties the opportunity to state interest in the usage of and comment on the development of such a testbed. Background All access to earth or planetary orbit, and all entry into earth?s atmosphere or any heavenly body with an atmosphere from orbit (or super orbital velocities) require flight through the hypersonic and supersonic regimes. The hypersonic flight regime often proves to be the design driver for most of the vehicle?s systems, subsystems, and components. If the United States wishes to continue to advance its capabilities for space access, entry, and high-speed flight within any atmosphere, improved understanding of the hypersonic flight regime and development of improved technologies to withstand and/or take advantage of this environment are required. Also recent advances have contributed to a resurgent interest in supersonic cruise flight. Sonic Boom reduction technology may make overland supersonic cruise a reality. However, it is only through NASA investment in new technologies and improved design methods that the benefits of increased cruise speed will become a reality for the general public. These benefits include improved quality of life through reduced travel time for business and pleasure, rapid delivery of high value cargo including time critical medical items and rapid response of disaster first responders. Supersonic cruise technology is also of interest to the U.S. Department of Defense Agencies. DOD studies have indicated that the capability of rapidly striking targets at long range could be a key element of the U.S. future defense strategy. Supersonic cruise vehicles are considered to be potentially important elements of this strategy. The significant barrier common to both military and civilian supersonic cruise is efficiency. Similarly high levels of efficiency must be achieved under strict limits on environmental factors such as airport noise, sonic boom, and high altitude emissions. Researchers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center (DRFC) at Edwards, CA, partnering with the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, CA, are investigating the use of surplus demilitarized Navy AIM-54 Phoenix air-launched missiles as hypersonic research testbeds. The Phoenix missiles used for hypersonic research will have their explosive warheads removed, and their tracking and guidance systems replaced with a smaller, lightweight, Global Positioning System (GPS) aided guidance and control system. The missiles will be heavily instrumented to acquire and downlink data from experiments in such areas as thermal protection materials, scramjet propulsion, guidance and control, boundary layer transition and aerodynamics at hypersonic and supersonic speeds. The PMHT will be launched from a NASA F-15 aircraft flying at speeds up to Mach 2.0. The anticipated test conditions range from Mach 3.0 with a dynamic pressure of 2000 psf for a 20 second duration to Mach 5.0 and a dynamic pressure of at least 500 psf for an 8 second duration. Planned available payload volume is up to 6 cubic feet within a 15? diameter envelope. The estimated allowable payload weight is 250 lbs. A minimum of 200 Watts power is available to the payload for the experiment duration. Future capability may include a deployable nose cone, allowing exposure of payloads to freestream flows. Additionally, a Mach 6.0 test condition is possible with a reduction in weight from the tactical missile. At present, NASA DFRC is performing design, analysis, and testing leading up to a Critical Design Review at the end of 2007 and an operational capability by FY09. NASA DFRC is interested in designing the PMHT to meet requirements for a variety of hypersonic experiments. Engineering trade-offs between system cost and performance is required to maintain a viable program. Therefore, technical feedback from academia and industry is necessary to achieve the maximum benefit to hypersonics research. Submission Information Specifically, respondents to this RFI are asked to submit the following information: 1. Experiment description, test objective, and research goal. 2. Desired test condition including test Mach number, dynamic pressure, and test duration. 3. Payload weight, volume, data, and power requirements. 4. Suggestions for adapting PMHT system capability to increase viability. 5. Capability statements, overviews of past experiments in hypersonics research, and any literature, brochures, and references that further elaborate on the intended experiment goals and objectives. The submission information has a page limitation of no more than ten (10) pages. A page is defined as one side of a sheet, 8 ?? x 11?, with at least one-inch margins on all sides, using not smaller than 12-point type. Title pages, tables of contents, indices, and blank divider pages are excluded from the page count. 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 Industry's responsibility to monitor these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis. This is a request for information (RFI) only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the NASA DFRC will take procurement action in this matter. Further, neither NASA DFRC nor the government will be responsible for any cost incurred in furnishing this information. Respondents will not be notified of the results. An ombudsman has been appointed -- See NASA Specific Note "B". Any documents related to this RFI will be available over the Internet. These documents will reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA/DFRC Business Opportunities home page is http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=73 Technical questions should be submitted to: DFRC-Hyper-Sonic@mail.nasa.gov. All responses shall be submitted to DFRC-Hyper-Sonic@mail.nasa.gov no later than 4:30 p.m. (PDT) on October 31, 2007.
- Web Link
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Click here for the latest information about this notice
(http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=24#126521)
- Record
- SN01386830-W 20070829/070827222101 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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