SP -- INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED AEROSPACE CONCEPTS NASA intends to establish an Institute for Advanced Aerospace Concepts. This is an advance notice of a possible future procurement. We are providing this information to develop and identify interested sources, to describe our concept of this Institute, and to solicit input to aid prospective offerors in later submitting a proposal. The purpose of the Institute is to provide an independent, open forum for the analysis and definition of space and aeronautics advanced concepts to compliment the advanced concepts activities conducted within the NASA Enterprises. It will focus on revolutionary concepts -- specifically systems and architectures -- that can have a major impact on future missions of the NASA Enterprises. The Institute will be based on the National Space Policy, the NASA Strategic Plan, the NASA Enterprise Strategic Plans, and future mission plans of the NASA Enterprises, but it will bounded only by the horizons of human imagination. The Institute will create an additional channel for advanced concepts to respond to Enterprise "grand challenges" and to augment NASA Enterprise Strategic Objectives. It will generate ideas for how the current NASA Agenda can be done better; it will expand our vision of future possibilities. NASA will form an Enterprise Advisory Committee to facilitate the understanding of Agency needs and plans and the incorporation of Institute advanced concept studies into Enterprise activities. Ideally the successful development of these advanced concepts will result in changes to the nation's future policies and plans. The Institute will be functionally independent of NASA and the concepts it recommends for government support will be the result of an external review of respected technical experts. NASA intends that the best products of the institute will be infused into NASA's and the nation's future programs, keeping in mind our budget realities. During the first century of human aerospace endeavor, cost has been our primary constraint; the future is unlikely to be much different. The intellectual challenge of how to do exciting missions much more inexpensively in the future must be engaged. It is intended that the Institute will reinvigorate public interest in revolutionary concepts of alternate aerospace futures. The Institute's quest for revolutionary ideas should attract ideas from a greatly expanded community and catalyze our imaginations into a dynamic interchange of competing future options. This will be a completely open debate and discussion; participation will only be limited by the quality of proposers' ideas. To the maximum extent possible, consistent with the intellectual property rights of the proposers, these ideas will be broadcast for public scrutiny via the Internet. Finally it is intended that the pursuit of aerospace advanced concepts will provide a positive inspiration to the nation's youth to study technical subjects, to conceive an exciting role in the future for themselves and to persevere in making it a reality. Description of the Institute: The Institute may be managed by a host organization (or group of organizations) which will initiate the Institute proposal, select the Director and support the operation of the Institute. It will be imperative that the host establish the Institute in a manner precluding any perceived or actual conflicts of interest, by either the host or Institute, pertaining to future business proposals or to future mission participation. The credibility of the Institute is an essential element of the selection process. The research fellows will be the Principal Investigators who are selected as a result of the advanced concepts solicitation. The Institute will proactively advocate and stimulate interest and participation in the generation of advance concepts with both aerospace and non-aerospace communities. The Director will be responsible for the leadership, organization and operation of all Institute activities. The Institute will initiate special purpose advanced concepts workshops and an annual advanced concepts conference. The primary activity of the Director will be leading the solicitation, an external review selection, and the oversight of advanced concepts programs. The Director will have the complete support of his home organization in the operation of the Institute. The Director will be approved by the NASA Chief Technologist and will serve for a period of three years with a possible two year extension. The Institute will be as independent as possible, with minimal NASA oversight and control, guided as much as possible by external review. The Institute will have advanced concepts as its sole focus. It will not perform research itself or have research facilities. The Institute will utilize the Internet and advanced communications technology to communicate with each other and with the public. The host research organization shall make available office space for the Director, administrative support and required computer and communications facilities. NASA will initially be the primary funding source. The Institute is not expectedto become self sufficient. NASA encourages the Institute to accept resources from other funding sources consistent with the purpose of the Institute. The Institute host organizations are also encouraged to provide cost sharing. The Institute will be responsible for assuring no actual or perceived conflict of interest in the performance of the external proposal review by host organization or reviewers. The NASA support will cover the salaries and related expenses of the Institute's infrastructure costs, and selected concept awards. The NASA support will also cover the incidental costs of performing the directors functions described below. If additional tasks are assumed beyond the scope of these functions, the additional expense must be paid for by the sponsors of the tasks. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center will supply administrative support including conference facility support, coordination of possible NASA systems engineering analysis and any relevant NASA developed administrative software/communication tools as a means of reducing duplication and cost. Goddard will also facilitate any other NASA unique technical assistance needed by the advanced concepts studies. Institute Director's Responsibilities: a. The Director is responsible for Technical Leadership and Advocacy of the Institute. This will include understanding the National Space Policy, NASA Strategic Plan and the NASA Enterprise Strategies. It will necessitate an understanding of the state of the art of aerospace technology and a general understanding of advanced concepts. b. The Director will initiate major outreach activities to stimulate and support participation in the analysis of aeronautics and space advanced concepts. This will include aerospace and non-aerospace communities. c. The Director will be responsible for establishing a set of grand challenges that could potentially have a revolutionary impact on how the NASA Enterprises would perform future programs. d. The Director will be responsible for establishing the solicitation selection criteria. e. The Director is responsible for recruiting external reviewers for the purpose of evaluating the proposals. f. The Director is responsible for chairing the external review of the Advanced Concepts Proposals and presenting his selections to the NASA Enterprise Advisory Committee and the NASA Chief Technologist for Concurrence. g. The Director is responsible for providing external oversight of the progress of the Advanced Technology Concepts awards program and for providing NASA with status reviews of the individual awards. h. The Director is responsible for organizing, on an ad-hoc reimbursable basis, evaluations of unsolicited proposals that may be submitted to the Institute. i. The Director is responsible for making recommendations on the potential infusion of Advanced Technology Concepts into NASA future missions. j. The Director will prepare an annual letter report to the NASA Administrator and Chief Technologist describing the state of the institute and the progress of the selection process as well as the status of the grantees. k. The Director will organize and lead an Annual Conference on Advanced Concepts. This would include selecting an annual theme for the conference, overseeing the conference logistics, developing the agenda and serving as conference master of ceremonies. l. The Director is responsible for distribution of Institute resources and associated procurement activities. Description of Scope of Advanced Concepts: The term "advanced concepts" has many meanings. Establishing the precise meaning and scope of the kind of "advanced concepts" that would be solicited by the institute is a fundamental starting point. What follows are a number of tests that can be applied to a specific concept. Candidate advanced concepts should meet these tests. 1. The concepts should be revolutionary rather than evolutionary. 2. The concepts will be consistent with NASA's Charter and Strategy. 3. The concepts should have a 'new' aspect. They should not repeat or duplicate concepts studied by the NASA Enterprises. 4. The concepts should involve major systems and architectures and have a major impact on how future enterprise missions are accomplished. 5. The concepts should not be solely a specific advanced technology or new design approach such as a new solar cell or a new spectrometer. They must be put into an application context. 6. The concepts should expand the number of approaches or choices rather than increase the depth of analysis for known concepts. 7. An advanced concept should include both a technical description (the physics, chemistry and technology) as well as the quantification of potential benefits. In addition, all research activities conducted through the Institute are expected to be predominantly analytical with about a two year period of performance. The advanced concepts selectees will also be expected to support reasonable levels of involvement in the relevant Enterprise advanced concepts activities and in the activities of the Institute. The procurement approach will be a contractual arrangement where the Government bears the burden of cost and in return, the university or contractor provides advanced concepts. The Government will retain Rights in Data. Please submit your comments, and/or interest in this acquisition in writing, within 30 days of publication of this notice, to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Catherine A. Cavey, Code 217, Greenbelt, MD 20771, or E-mail to catherine.a.cavey.1@gsfc.nasa.gov NASA/GSFC contemplates that after review of comments from the interested community, NASA/GSFC will issue a presolicitation notice and a formal solicitation. NASA does not plan to hold a presolicitation or preproposal conference. Note: NASA does not intend to use information submitted to prequalify offerors, nor will NASA pay for the information submitted. WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/GSFC/date.html#Code-217. E-MAIL: Catherine Cavey, Catherine.A.Cavey.1@gsfc.nasa.gov.

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