Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF JUNE 13, 2018 FBO #6046
DOCUMENT

A -- Request for Information on the Availability of Potential Lunar Payloads - Internet Address

Notice Date

6/11/2018
 

Notice Type

Internet Address
 

NAICS

54171 — Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life SciencesT
 

Contracting Office

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Headquarters Acquisition Branch, Code 210.H, Greenbelt, Maryland, 20771, United States
 

ZIP Code

20771
 

Solicitation Number

NNH18ZDA012L
 

Point of Contact

Sarah Noble, Phone: 202-358-2492
 

E-Mail Address

HQ-LunarPayloadRFI@mail.nasa.gov
(HQ-LunarPayloadRFI@mail.nasa.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

1. Summary The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is seeking information under this Request for Information (RFI) to assess availability of potential lunar payloads for NASA's new Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) effort. First flights are anticipated to begin as early as 2019. Under the mandate for a robust return to the Moon in the President's Budget Request to Congress for fiscal year 2019, NASA has proposed multiple new and linked lunar activities. These efforts will establish U.S. leadership for missions to, around, and on the Moon. NASA is planning to develop a series of increasingly complex and capable lunar missions to the surface of the Moon, starting first with robotic missions. This CLPS initiative will run in parallel with the development and flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion, and the elements of the Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway. The aforementioned initiative will be a collaborative effort between NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD), Science Mission Directorate (SMD), and Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). NASA has recently released a draft RFP for Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) to provide end-to-end services for payloads to the lunar surface. This RFI is seeking information about potential payloads for these landers. Responses to this Request for Information (RFI) are sought broadly from U.S. industry, universities, non-profit organizations, NASA centers, and other U.S. government agencies, and will be used by NASA to further inform planning and acquisition strategy development. 2. Background Space Policy Directive-1 issued on December 11, 2017, instructs NASA to "Lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities." NASA is trying to determine what payloads, including both technology demonstrations and science instruments, are available for the earliest of these launch opportunities. We anticipate that the first of these missions may launch as early as 2019. The early missions under CLPS will deliver instruments and technology demonstrations to meet lunar science and exploration needs. To enable planning of how to best utilize this opportunity, NASA is seeking information from U.S. entities on potential payloads for these missions. This information will be used to help formulate a strategy for payload acquisition. We anticipate releasing a Program Element Appendix (PEA) to the Stand Alone Missions of Opportunity Notice (SALMON) Announcement of Opportunity (AO) later this summer for lunar payloads. Additionally, responses to this RFI from NASA Centers will be used to assess the availability of potential payloads within NASA and NASA may choose to move forward with these payloads directly. Though it is expected that the capabilities of the companies under the CLPS contract will evolve with time, these earliest missions will be stationary landers that are not expected to last beyond a single lunar day (14 Earth days). Landing sites are likely to be mid-latitude on the lunar near-side and will be chosen by the commercial entity. We anticipate placing multiple payloads on each lander. NASA is interested in opportunities that achieve science goals, demonstrate technology, and/or buy down risk for future missions of higher complexity. 3. Information Requested To be ready for launches as early as 2019, NASA is requesting information as to the availability of existing hardware that can be used for flight with little to no payload development necessary. It is understood that some engineering efforts will be required to accommodate the payload for flight on specific CLPS-contract spacecraft(s). Specific accommodation details will be defined in the CLPS "User's Guides" produced by CLPS contract companies as the first deliverable on their contract in early 2019. Existing hardware that respondents should consider in responding to this RFI include, but are not limited to: engineering models, flight spares, modified off-the-shelf instruments, etc. Given the scope and the technical goals of the proposed activity, NASA is considering a much more risk tolerant approach to flight hardware development and integration than is normally adopted by other segments of NASA's planetary exploration program (e.g., Discovery, New Frontiers), and is willing to accept risk consistent with Class D or Small-Sat payloads. As such, offerors are requested to provide information for those class of payloads and to briefly describe the risks associated with delivering and integrating this hardware. 4. Response Guidelines Since this is a request for information, no evaluation letters and/or results will be issued to the respondents. Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI by submitting a PDF through NSPIRES following the instructions below. The response text, exclusive of the one-page summary described below, shall not exceed 8 pages (including attachments), and shall use a minimum font size of 12 point. A. Your Response should include: 1. Entity information: name, contact information, summary of previous relevant experience, indicate whether a U.S. entity, identify partners and Co-Is. 2. Details of your payload: the technical specifications; e.g. mass and volume, communication requirements (volume, bandwidth, etc.), communication interface (wired, wireless, interface port etc.), power requirements (nominal, peak, power conditioning, etc.), any thermal conditioning requirements, sensitivity to radiation and electromagnetic interference/compliance, mechanical interface (thermal isolation, etc.), optical sensitivities (dust, chemicals, line of sight, etc.), expected payload acoustic and shock load limits. 3. Describe the heritage and technology readiness level of your payload. Describe what kind of effort would be required to make it flight-ready. Describe any technical or programmatic risks associated with delivering and integrating the hardware. 4. Describe the potential science and/or technology advancement expected if your payload is successfully flown. B. Your Response may include answers to the following topics and questions: 1. How would changing the timing of flight dates (i.e., 2020 or 2021 rather than 2019) affect the cost/availability/risk level of your payload? 2. How dependent is your payload on the location of the landing site? Is it useful anywhere on the Moon or only certain locations? C. Summary To facilitate a prompt review, a one-page summary shall be included with your Response which shall outline your payload's capabilities and readiness level. The one-page summary shall precede the Response and will not count against the Response page limit. The one-page summary shall include: i. Name, affiliation, address, email, and telephone number; ii. Image of payload; iii. Mass/volume/power/communications requirements of payload; iv. Current TRL of payload; v. Brief description of payload capabilities and goals. 5. Instructions for Submission The information obtained will be used by NASA for planning and acquisition strategy development. NASA will use the information obtained as a result of this RFI on a non-attribution basis. Restricted/limited data/information is not solicited. Responders may submit proprietary information, export-controlled information (including ITAR restricted information), or confidential information in response to this RFI, but this is strictly voluntary. All responses submitted in response to this RFI must be submitted in electronic form via NSPIRES, the NASA online announcement data management system, located at http://nspires.nasaprs.com. For this RFI, a response submission will take the form of a Notice of Intent (NOI) within the NSPIRES online announcement data management system. The RFI response itself will be a PDF-formatted document that is attached (uploaded) to the NSPIRES system. You must be registered with NSPIRES to submit a response. See registration instructions at http://nspires.nasaprs.com (select "Getting an account"). Neither institution registration nor an institution affiliation is required to respond to this RFI. 1.Log in to your account at http://nspires.nasaprs.com. 2.Select "Proposals/NOIs" from your account page. 3.Select "Create NOI" from your proposals page. 4.Click "Continue" on the next page. 5.Select "Request for Information: Potential Lunar Payload (NNH18ZDA012L)" from the bulleted list of announcements. 6.Click "Continue". 7.Enter RFI response title ("NOI title" field will be shown). 8.Select "do not link at this time" for submitting organization page. 9.Click "Save" on next page. 10.It is not necessary to complete any of the "NOI Details"; all requested information should be included in the attached PDF document. Information which is entered into "NOI Details" but not included in the attached PDF document will not be considered. 11.Prepare your RFI response offline and save as a PDF document (note NSPIRES instructions on PDF formats). The response document must include the respondent's Name, institution, and e-mail address so the file is self-contained. File names format should be "PI Last Name - First Name - Number - RFI". "Number" will be used to distinguish multiple responses from the same PI. The response should not exceed five pages in length. 12.To attach (upload) your PDF document: a.Click "add" under NOI attachments section; b.Select "Proposal Document" from the drop-down list; c.Browse to attach your PDF file; d.Select "Upload"; e.Click "OK"; f.Your RFI document has been uploaded to NSPIRES. 13.Click Submit NOI button. NOTE that this does not complete the submission process. 14.Ignore any warnings about incomplete NOI elements. Ensure that your NOI document is attached and click "Continue". 15.Click "Submit". This will take you to the NOI submission confirmation page, which provides you with the NOI/RFI number for your records. Please note: You may delete and replace form fields and uploaded documents any time before the submission deadline, however once your RFI is submitted, it cannot be deleted. It is emphasized that this RFI is neither a Request for Proposal, nor an Invitation for Bid. This RFI is being used to obtain information for planning purposes only; therefore, NASA does not plan to respond to the individual RFI responses. As stipulated in FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Pursuant to FAR 52.215-3, entitled Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes, this information is being made available for market research, information, and planning purposes and to allow potential proposers the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirements, as well as promote competition. This RFI is subject to review or cancellation at any time and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract. The Government will not pay for the information submitted in response to this request, and respondents will not be notified of the results. Following this initial feedback, as part of its market research, NASA may conduct one-on-one meetings with respondents. These meetings will allow for exchange of information and will provide an opportunity for respondents to provide feedback on the Government's preliminary requirements and acquisition approach. Please do not request a copy of the solicitation, as no solicitation exists at this time. If a firm requirement is developed and a solicitation is issued, the solicitation will be made available through NSPIRES ( https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external ). It is the responsibility of Offerors and interested parties to monitor the internet sites for the release of the solicitation and amendments, if any, and they will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the documents. NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for potential acquisitions can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/Omb.html. 6. Point of Contact Questions concerning this Request for Information may be addressed to: Sarah Noble Program Scientist, Planetary Science Division phone: 202-358-2492 email: HQ-LunarPayloadRFI@mail.nasa.gov, (subject line to read "Lunar Payload RFI").
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/f6b395909a79c74b2f4d1ece96c1a107)
 

Document(s)

Internet Address
 

File Name: Internet Address (https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary!init.do?solId=%7b929BA1D5-2A48-F7FE-261A-BD878F3338F9%7d&path=open)

Link: https://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary!init.do?solId=%7b929BA1D5-2A48-F7FE-261A-BD878F3338F9%7d&path=open

 

Note: If links are broken, refer to Point of Contact above or contact the FBO Help Desk at 877-472-3779.
 

Record

SN04951093-W 20180613/180611230942-f6b395909a79c74b2f4d1ece96c1a107 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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