NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 214.4, Greenbelt, MD 20771

99 -- THERMOSPHERE IONOSPHERE MESOSPHERE ENERGETICS AND DYNAMICS (TIMED) OBSERVATORY SOL RFP5-01989-508 POC Patrick D. Logan, Contracting Officer, Phone (301)286-0739, Fax (301)286-1667, Email Patrick.D.Logan.1@gsfc.nasa.gov WEB: Goddard Space Flight Center Procurement Home Page, http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/procure.htm. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center intends to issue Request for Proposal (RFP) 5-01989-508, on a sole-source basis, to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory ( JHU/APL) for the design, development, fabrication, assembly, integration, testing, and management of the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) Observatory, consisting of a spacecraft and four flight instruments, and launch support, 30 days of the post-launch checkout support, and 4 years of mission operation and data analysis (MO&DA) support. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition of this procurement is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), Only One Responsible Source. The objective of the TIMED Mission is to investigate and understand the energetics of the Mesosphere and the Lower Thermosphere/Ionosphere (MLTI) region. The MLTI is a region of transition in which many important processes change dramatically. It is a region where solar radiation is absorbed, energy input from the aurora maximizes, intense electrical currents flow, and upwardly propagating waves and tides break. This region has never been the subject of a comprehensive, long term, global investigation. TIMED will provide a core subset of measurements defining the basic states (density, pressure, temperature, winds) of the MLTI region and its thermal balance for the first time. JHU/APL has been intimately involved in the management of the TIMED Mission since July 1994 and has completed a conceptual design study and preliminary design of the Mission. As a result of the extensive knowledge gained during its previous involvement in the TIMED Mission as an instrument Co-Investigator and as the designated institution for the overall management of the definition and design efforts, JHU/APL is considered uniquely qualified and the only source with the experience and expertise capable of performing the follow-on design, development, and MO&DA phases within the current TIMED schedules. Interested firms desiring consideration have 15 days from publication in the Commerce Business Daily (CBD) to submit their qualifications/capabilities. Such qualifications/capabilities will be used solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. Responses received after 15 days without the required information will be considered nonresponsive to the synopsis and will not be considered. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract, on a full and open competitive basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered by the agency. See Number Note 22. Any referenced numbered notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nnotes.htm. (0050)

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