MODIFICATION
C -- SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION STUDIO SUPPORT
- Notice Date
- 11/15/2010
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- NAICS
- 541519
— Other Computer Related Services
- Contracting Office
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 210.Y, Greenbelt, MD 20771
- ZIP Code
- 20771
- Solicitation Number
- SIVO-RFI-2010
- Response Due
- 11/24/2010
- Archive Date
- 11/15/2011
- Point of Contact
- Lisa A Mullen, Contract Specialist, Phone 301-286-0503, Fax 301-286-0383, Email Lisa.A.Mullen@nasa.gov
- E-Mail Address
-
Lisa A Mullen
(Lisa.A.Mullen@nasa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Questions and Answers Pertaining to the Scientific Visualization Studio Support RFIposted November 8, 2010. The due date for responses has not changed.Question #1 - Interested Organizations are invited to submit 'a description of theircapability to provide personnel to create very quality visualizations of the Earth andSpace Science data'. What is really meant by this requirement? Is NASA asking forcopies of resume of the candidates with Earth and Science data visualization experienceincluded in the capability statement? Would NASA accept an offeror's capability toprovide such candidates through an existing or a future agreement with a recruiting /staffing company / database ( such as DICE.com or Monster.com)?Please clarify the extent of offeror's capability to provide science data visualizationpersonnel.Answer #1: Personnel on this project must have a background in some combination ofscientific visualization, computer graphics, physical science, graphic design, andprogramming and should have used that background to create scientific visualization ofthe quality seen on science programs such as 'NOVA', in planetariums and museums, and inthe public media. Since this is a specialized area, it will necessary for the offeror toprovide documentation and examples of experience in this area so that the quality of thework and/or experience can be assessed.Question #2- Who are all the incumbents supporting the subject work now? What are theircontract numbers?Answer #2: The incumbent is Global Science and Technology, under subcontract to NorthropGrumman Information Technology through the GSA Millennia Contract GS00T99ALD0207, OrderNumber NNG06HN01D.Question #3- It seems that NASA GSFC is looking for offerors with personnel who arealready using the listed commercial software tools in its Earth and Science data displayand visualization environment (laboratory). This seems to be a very much closerequirement that can only be met by the incumbent or the other few contractors who aredirectly supporting the SIVO. Could NASA relax this requirement to an extent that somesmall businesses can meet the capability requirement criteria?Answer #3: The NASA GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio has an in-house system torender visualizations that is similar to those in the animation and special effectsindustry, i.e., a system/cluster of Linus and MacOS X workstations, file servers, andrender servers coupled with commercial software for design ('MAYA'), rendering('RenderMan'), and scheduling ('Alfred'). This commercial software is highly extensiblethrough modular add-ons and ad-hoc programming in MEL, SLIM, and RenderMan ShadingLanguage. The SVS has created a unique capability by extending this system in-house withmodules to produce scientific visualizations. Personnel with experience using suchsoftware for animation design and rendering and modifying such software as necessaryshould be able to learn this system. In addition, the SVS team is more extensive thanjust the personnel on this contract, and the entire SVS team, civil servants andcontractors alike, collaborate using this system.Question #4- The requirement for converting the science data retrieved from the archivesto formats compatible with 'system described above' again restricts the subject work tothe incumbents only or those directly working with SIVO. Could NASA relax thisrequirement in such a way to also allow non-SIVO supporting companies to meet someminimum capability requirements?Answer #4: The formats compatible with the SVS system are straightforward, usuallyfloating-point tiffs and ascii files. The key issue here is knowledge of existingscientific data formats such as HDF, NetCDF, ArcGIS, generic binary, etc., and theprocesses by which that data can be converted to other formats through existing tools orad hoc programming.Documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. Thesedocuments will reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWWbrowser application. The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA/GSFC Business Opportunitieshome page is http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=51 Offerors are responsible for monitoring this site for the release of the solicitation andany amendments. Potential offerors are responsible for downloading their own copy ofthe solicitation and amendments (if any).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/NASA/GSFC/OPDC20220/SIVO-RFI-2010/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02327258-W 20101117/101115233929-6f160ced97ed70bff07618c4dedaadc9 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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