SOURCES SOUGHT
59 -- THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A STABLE BASE FOR THE NASA POLARMETRIC RADAR
- Notice Date
- 8/25/2009
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 334511
— Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Wallops Flight Facility, Code 210.W, WallopsIsland, VA 23337
- ZIP Code
- 23337
- Solicitation Number
- NNG09309867L
- Response Due
- 9/14/2009
- Archive Date
- 8/25/2010
- Point of Contact
- Diana W. Frimmel, Contract Specialist, Phone 757-824-1290, Fax 757-824-1974, Email Diana.W.Frimmel@nasa.gov - Pamela J Taylor, Contracting Officer, Phone 757-824-1068, Fax 757-824-1974, Email Pamela.J.Taylor@nasa.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
Diana W. Frimmel
(Diana.W.Frimmel@nasa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This notice is issued by the NASA/GSFC to post a Sources Sought Synopsis via theinternet, and solicit responses from interested parties. This document is forinformation and planning purposes and to allow industry the opportunity to verifyreasonableness, capabilities, and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promotecompetition. Prospective offerors must submit their business size. Prospective offerorsare invited to submit written comments or questions to: Diana W. Frimmel, no later thanSeptember 8, 2009. When responding reference NNG09309867L.Comments may be forwarded to Diana W. Frimmel via electronic transmission or by facsimiletransmission. No phone calls will be accepted.BackgroundNASA has a portable polarimetric S-band research radar (NPOL) that is used to support theNASA precipitation program. It is designed to be deployed anywhere in the world to beset up and used to collect precipitation data in coordination with field campaigns andsatellite missions. In the past few years, it has been deployed to Key West, Florida;Senegal, Africa and Panama. A contract has just been awarded to replace the existing pedestal and the 18 ft diameterantenna with a new, larger pedestal and a new 28ft diameter antenna. This upgrade willprovide for increased angular resolution allowing for collection of meaningful data atgreater distances from the radar. The NPOL radar is shipped in standard ISO 20 ft shipping containers. During deploymentsof the radar, the current antenna and pedestal are attached to the tops of the seacontainers arranged to form a stable base of radar operations. This design eliminatesthe need for a pouring a concrete pad on which to mount the pedestal. However thecurrent arrangement will not be usable for the larger antenna and more massive pedestalthat is being procured. This request is for the design and fabrication of a new way tostabilize the antenna and pedestal so that it can operate in high winds without a radomein remote locations worldwide.The resulting design shall provide a stable base suitablefor easy short term deployments in remote locations. Final specific details on the size,mass, center of gravity and overturning moments of the new antenna and pedestal will beprovided. The general size and weights are listed in below. Salient Specifications The design shall address the following requirements and the bidder shall provide evidenceof compliance.1.All parts and components supplied for the stable base shall survive and operateunder the same extreme environmental conditions as specified for the antenna andpedestal. An expected life of all the parts supplied when operating under possibleextreme environment conditions shall be at least 20 years.2.Installation of the radar at a remote site using the stable base system shallrequire only minimal site preparation for a moderately level site. It shall not requireconcrete footers or pads to be poured. 3.The design of the stable base system shall be easy to setup (assemble) and teardown (disassemble). Assembly by an experienced crew shall take less than 4 hours fromthe arrival of the shipping containers on site to the final assembly of the stable basesystem and shall require only a 45 ton crane and manual labor.4.The components of the stable base system shall be designed for ease of handling,packing and transport.All new fabricated parts including a platform for the pedestal,guy wires, braces, outriggers, etc shall be designed to easily fit in a 20 ft seacontainer for shipment. All crating needed for the shipment of component parts shall beprovided and be designed for reuse multiple times.5.The design of the stable base system shall include consideration of the ease ofassembly of the antenna, ease of mating the antenna to the pedestal and readyaccessibility to the antenna and feed horn for repair in the field. As a separate optionthe proposal shall include the addition of a hydraulic system to raise and lower thepedestal.6.Design shall provide the maximum practical height of the center of the radar beamabove the plane of the ground. (This is important to minimize beam blockage at remotesites. The current pedestal sits on top of the coupled sea containers)7.The design shall not require the use of ballast or extra weights which would haveto be shipped.8.Detailed assembly instructions shall be provided and an on site demonstration ofthe assembly of the stable base and the installation of radar on it shall be requiredbefore acceptance.9. A list of critical components which might fail in the field shall be provided.Final acceptance tests will be at the NASA Wallops facility. At that time the governmentwill provide access to the NPOL radar system including the new antenna and pedestal. Theradar will be in 4 to 6 sea containers used for shipment. The government can furnish twoempty sea containers if needed during the development of the stable base system. Delivery of all the components for the stable base system shall be no later than June30th 2010. Earlier delivery is preferred however final acceptance will depend on thereceipt of the new antenna and pedestal now being built and scheduled to be delivered nltJune 30th 2010. Appendix AAntenna and Pedestal characteristicsAntennaMass 2497 lbsDiameter 28 ftAppendix BEnvironmental Operating Conditions Below are the specifications for the antenna and pedestal3.3Environmental Considerations 3.3.1Temperature Operating: -30 to 55 C Storage: -50 to +70 C 3.3.2Humidity 100 percent, condensing. 3.3.3Ground Winds The system shall be designed to overcome the effect of ground winds as follows: Operate with less than 1 dB degradation in performance in sustained winds up to96.6 kilometers/hour (60 mph).Survive sustained winds up to 161 kilometers/hour (100 mph) with antenna inhorizontal stow (either stow pins or brakes). Survive wind gusts up to 193 kilometers/hour (l20 mph) with the system stowed ina position, recommended by the manufacturer, which will maximize the survival of thesystem. 3.3.4Salt Atmosphere Coastal regions including islands in the middle of the ocean. Survive exposure to continuous salt fog created by nearby breaking surf forperiods of several months without serious corrosion or loss of performance. 3.3.5Precipitation Heavy rain rates as in Tropical regions; hail (diameter < 10 mm) in Temperate regions;sleet and heavy snow as in regions at High Latitudes. Survive Icing with accumulations up to 25.4 mm (1 inch) on all surfaces or 13.5 mm (1/2inch) on all surfaces with 129 km/hr (80 mph) wind gusts.3.3.6 Sand and Dust Desert regions. Survive hot, dry conditions with blowing fine dust and sand without adverseeffects on the operation or performance of the system.3.3.7Altitude The entire system shall survive shipment in an unpressurized aircraft up to an altitudeof 12 kilometers. The contractor shall provide a list of equipment that is not rated toan altitude of 12 kilometers, including any special shipping requirements. This presolicitation synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government,nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response.Respondents willnot be notified of the results.An ombudsman has been appointed -- See NASA Specific Note "B".The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over theInternet at a later date. 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, forthe NASA/GSFC Business Opportunities home page ishttp://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=51It is the offeror'sresponsibility to monitor the Internet cite for the release of the solicitation andamendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their owncopy of the solicitation and amendments, if any. Any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.
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