NASA/Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas, 77058-3696, Mail Code: BE

A -- ORBITER AVIONICS UPGRADE STUDY SOL 9BE13-95-7-59P DUE 031497 POC Ann S. Sullivan, Contracting Officer, Phone (281) 483-1863, Fax (281) 244-5337, Email asulliva@ems.jsc.nasa.gov -- Lisa Rea-Phillips, Contracting Officer, Phone (281) 483-8395, Fax (281) 244-5337, Email lreaphil@ems.jsc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/JSC/date.html#9BE13-95-7-59P. E-MAIL: Ann S. Sullivan, asulliva@ems.jsc.nasa.gov. NASA/JSC plans to issue a Request for Offer (RFO) for a Space Shuttle Orbiter Avionics Study. This study is to contrast approaches from a "box-by-box" replacement to upgrading Orbiter avionics in a single-block upgrade to an incremental subsystem upgrade approach. The issues of current and future obsolescence and supportability will be addressed along with the major goals of reducing operational costs and assisting with vehicle turnaround. Avionics implementation and impact on ground support equipment and facilities will also be considered. Software configuration, implementation, certification, and maintenance will be a major part of the proposed study. The study is to assume an Orbiter lifetime to 2030; current operational requirements; and current requirements for safety, reliability, and redundancy. The study will produce a technical approach and cost data for both approaches: The technical approach will include an architecture and high level design. It will also identify opportunities for infusing military and commercial technology. The cost data will include a cost estimate and schedule for development and the outfitting of four Orbiters. NASA Johnson Space Center will furnish a data base of availability data for the current avionics. Study results will be due at the end of 6 months. These results will be used to guide the planning for the future Orbiter avionics upgrade. NASA intends to award up to three study contracts. The technical contact is Richard E. Coblentz, mail code EV, telephone (281)483-5232. This procurement is being conducted under the NASA MidRange Pilot Test Program approved by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. See Numbered Note 26. All responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency. The anticipated release date of the RFO is on or about March 28, 1997, with an anticipated offer due date of on or about April 28, 1997. An ombudsman has been appointed -- See Note "B". The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. These documents will be in ASCII or RTF format and will reside on a World-Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The WWW address, or URL, of the NASA/JSC Business Opportunities home page is http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/JSC/class.html. Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor this site for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Any referenced numbered notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/notes.htm. (0057)

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