NASA, Johnson Space Center, BE13, Houston, TX 77058

18 -- SOURCES SOUGHT FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATED WITH PRODUCTION OF A CREW RETURN VEHICLE WITH SERVICING SOL 9-BE13-6-09-X35 DUE 022897 POC Contract Specialist: Lisa Rea Phillips, (713) 483-8395 Contract Officer: Lisa Rea Phillips, (713) 483-8395 NASA is soliciting innovative, creative business strategies and mechanisms for satisfying our requirements for production quantities of a Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) based on the X-spacecraft currently being developed by NASA at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). This X-spacecraft was previously given the informal designation of X-35 and formal designation of the X-spacecraft as the X-38 is pending. The X-spacecraft is being developed to prove that a common core human space vehicle can be produced that can meet a variety of mission needs at significantly lower costs than previous human spacecraft. The first anticipated need for this core vehicle would be to serve as a CRV which is an emergency lifeboat to return crew members to earth from the International Space Station (ISS). This core vehicle would also be able to be outfitted to meet the needs of a Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV) for ferrying crews to orbital destinations, as a research and technology demonstrator spacecraft or as a spaceplane. Options to produce up to eight additional common core vehicles under the CRV production contract for use as CTVs is currently under negotiation between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French national space agency (CNES). ESA and CNES have been collaborating with NASA on the development of the common core vehicle. NASA intends to issue an announcement/solicitation for a collaborative X-spacecraft activity leading to production of four operational CRVs. NASA intends to select a vendor in CY 1997 who will be given access to the current design/test activity that is ongoing at JSC. This phase will provide the contractor with an in-depth understanding of the design and permit the contractor to collaborate in development of the X-spacecraft to ensure a clean transition to a production phase. No payments will be made during this phase. NASA has constructed two X-spacecraft atmospheric test vehicles and will perform unpiloted atmospheric flight testing in 1997. Design and construction work on an X-spacecraft space vehicle will continue for the next year with an unpiloted space fight test flown in late 1998 or early 1999. There will be an Operational CRV configuration and requirements review in late 1997. This review will incorporate the results of X-spacecraft atmospheric testing and X-spacecraft space vehicle construction and design analysis. The production contractor will be expected to provide significant input to the configuration and requirements at this review based on their participation in the X-spacecraft project. This review will baseline the configuration and requirements for the production vehicles. The production units will conform to the aerodynamic configuration that NASA will baseline in this review which will be based on the configuration of the X-spacecraft program. Final design and production of the operational CRV vehicles by the production contractor (and payments to the production contractor) will be initiated at the conclusion of this configuration review. Options to produce up to 8 additional common core vehicles which could be converted to CTV configuration could occur in mid 98 based on the results of NASA negotiations with ESA and CNES. A CTV configuration and requirements baseline would occur prior to start of CTV production. NASA is presently seeking industry alternatives regarding: (1) type and structure of the agreement (contract, cooperative agreement, cost sharing, cost type, etc.) for design phase and for production phase, (2) feasibility of selecting one vendor versus multiple vendors for design phase, (3) cost containment strategies for production phase, (4) potential commercial applications of the CRV and their cost benefits to NASA, (5) minimum production units necessary to justify design phase commitment, (6) hardware ownership considerations (purchase versus service versus lease), including impacts of possible financing alternatives, (7) potential teaming and/or partnerships (domestic and international - particularly european industry relationships for CTV production), (8) data rights considerations, (9) inclusion or exclusion of maintenance/operational support as part of the production phase, etc. Please provide advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. Innovative approaches which reduce government investment are encouraged. Comments regarding schedule feasibility (see below) and cost implications of the schedule are also desired. Each proposed alternative should be feasible in terms of existing legislation. However, approaches requiring changes to existing legislation may be provided if clearly identified as incompatible with existing legislation and if accompanied by a discussion of the legislation relief necessary for the approach to be made viable. CRV Requirements: The overall vehicle configuration is a modified version of the USAF X-24A lifting body. The vehicle is 28.5 feet long and 14.5 feet wide and weighs approximately 18,000 lbs. It must carry 6 crew members at a time in a shirt sleeve environment in reclined couches. Crew members are sized to 95% American males with microgravity spine stretch per NASA STD-3000. The CRV must be capable of autonomous flight and landing at desert landing sites. The configuration uses a 6,000 sq. foot lifting steerable parafoil for final descent and landing to meet requirements for touchdown loads and landing accuracy. The vehicle must land within a 5 nm radius of the identified landing site. Vehicle touchdown loads must prevent injury to a deconditioned and ill crew member. Touchdown loads are to be evaluated using the modified Brinkley index. A backup parachute system is provided, as well as a skid-type landing attenuation system. The CRV configuration must support a 9 hour orbital free-flight mission. The vehicle must support medical equipment and allow access for a medical officer to attend to an injured or ill crew member during the free-flight mission. Capabilities for crew members to specify deorbit times, landing sites, provide guidance commands and select backup systems must be provided. The CRV must provide a minimum lifetime of 1 year attached to the station is required with possible extension to 3 years. The vehicle is to be capable of being launched to station onboard both the space shuttle and an expendable launch vehicle. If an expendable vehicle is used, a separate transfer vehicle will be used to maneuver the CRV into berthing position with the station. The entry vehicle must be non-hazardous so all deorbit propulsion elements must be contained in a separate module which can be jettisoned and destroyed during entry. The vehicle will be single fault tolerant in all subsystems with the exception of major pressure vessels (cabin, tanks, plumbing lines, etc.). The vehicle must provide free-flight communication with the Mission Control Center (MCC) at JSC via the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Voice, telemetry, electrocardiogram, and compressed video signals must be supported on this link (one at a time) to meet medical requirements. The vehicle must be able to berth at any port on the space station through use of an adapter module which will interface the berthing or docking accommodations at a port to the berthing interface of the CRV. The CRV configuration includes cold gas nitrogen for attitude control prior to atmospheric capture and electromechanical actuators to move body flaps and rudders during atmospheric flight. Commercial off-the-shelf avionics and software are used in the configuration. Redundant GFE Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System (INS/GPS) units provide attitude and navigation state information. All pyrotechnics on the vehicle are laser initiated. Thermal protection for the configuration includes blankets, an d tiles . Batteries provide power throughout the mission. CTV Requirements: Preliminary requirements for the CTV are very similar to those of the CRV. The CTV will be launched aboard expendable launch vehicles exclusively. In the CTV role the common core vehicle shall carry three crewmembers in pressure suits with ejection seats. Crew members are sized to 95% American males with microgravity spine stretch per NASA STD-3000. A vehicle configured as a CTV with ejection seats is NOT required to be convertible to a CRV configuration (recumbent seats) while on-orbit. The CTV will require dual fault tolerance in systems and will be required to support an 80 hour total mission. Additional consumables for the 80 hr mission may be carried in the deorbit module and discarded prior to entry. Recharging of electrical system batteries while attached to the ISS is an option for lifetime extension on station. Up to 200 kg of payload must be accommodated in the pressurized volume. Greater crew interaction with flight systems is anticipated in the CTV role with an enhanced cockpit and electronic displays and controls. The PRELIMINARY program schedule is as follows: Release of Draft Statement of Work- November 1996; Industry conference at JSC- December 1996; Release of Final Request for Proposals- February 1997; First X-38 Atmospheric Test Flight- April 1997; Final Proposals Due- April 1997; Contract Award- July 1997; Configuration Baseline for Production- December 1997; Ship X-38 to Launch Site- October 1998; X-38 Space Test- March 1999; First CRV On Station- April 2001; Final CRV Produced- December 2002. All interested parties are invited to provide relevant comments via Internet address LREA@ems.jsc.nasa.gov or via facsimile number (713) 244-5337. NASA is seeking comments only on contracting approaches and schedule feasibility for converting the X-spacecraft to a production vehicle. Comments must be received by 15 November, 1996, in order to be included for consideration. We are also interested in receiving rough order of magnitude cost estimates for four vehicles configured as CRVs with an additional option for up to 8 CTVs, based on the respondents recommended approach(es). These estimates may be provided as late as 27 November, 1996. See numbered Note 25. (0297)

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