NASA/George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Procurement Office, Marshall Space Flight Center, AL 35812

A -- SILICON CARBIDE (C/SIC) ULTRALIGHT MIRROR TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION SOL GP49001 DUE 052198 POC Richard W. McClearen, Contracting Officer, Phone (205) 544-0411, Fax (205) 544-4401, Email richard.mcclearen@msfc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.nasa.gov/EPS/MSFC/date.html#GP49001. E-MAIL: Richard W. McClearen, richard.mcclearen@msfc.nasa.gov. The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is seeking qualified sources with the capability to polish a 50cm diameter lightweight substrate made of a special carbon infiltrated form of silicon carbide (C/SiC) to achieve a high quality mirror surface as part of the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) project development effort. The purpose of this procurement is to determine how well this type of silicon carbide can be polished, and the ultimate goal of the technology program is to achieve a diffraction limited performance of 2 microns. This procurement will be conducted in two phases, the first phase will be to establish qualified sources with this announcement, owing to the limited number of C/SiC coupons available for distribution. The second phase will be to furnish a Request for Offers (RFO) only to those qualified sources responding to this announcement. In order to determine qualified sources for this procurement, responses to this announcement must include a brief description of the offeror's relevant facilities and past experience with similiar efforts. The anticipated funding for this entire procurement, which includes polishing the coupon and the 50cm substrate, is $100K. The type of contract awarded will be Firm-Fixed-Price. Qualified sources will be furnished a single, solid C/SiC coupon disk 7.62cm in diameter and 1.27cm thick with the RFO, for experimentation and delivery with the proposal as evidence of the ability of the offeror to work with this unique material. The finished coupon will be evaluated by MSFC for surface quality and accuracy. Offerors may work on either side of the surface and may repeat polishing attempts on a surface by removing failure artifacts by grinding or other processes. The coupons must be at least 2.032mm thick. The surface shape of the coupons is flat. A spherical surface is required on the 50cm mirror with a radius of curvature of 20.000 meters. The Government furnished substrate will meet that specification prior to polishing. Candidate vendor proposals will also be evaluated on the basis of their cost estimates, innovativeness, credibility of process descriptions for the 50cm substrate polishing effort, previous experience of the vendor, and vendor's solution for quilting and mid-frequency problems. Using the same technology used on the coupon, the winning vendor will polish the 50cm substrate which is manufactured by BDM/IABG with proprietary technology. The current design for the 50cm mirror is shown in the attached figure. The 50cm substrate will be GFP to the winning vendor on or about 9/1/98. Thermal testing will not be required on either the coupons or the 50cm substrate. MSFC may perform such tests on the completed 50cm mirror but not as precondition for completion of the contract. Possible follow-on work to this contract may include finishing of the mirror by optional cladding (if necessary) and final surface preparation so that the mirror can be used as a technology demonstrator. Distribution of the coupons will be made with the RFO which will be mailed (likely by Federal Express Delivery). The planning schedule for this procurement is as follows: Souces sought closes: 5/22/98 Sources evaluated: 6/5/98 RFO and coupon mailed: 6/9/98 Proposals due (w/coupons): 7/14/98 Contract award: 8/14/98 Delivery of 50cm substrate to contractor: 9/1/98 Vendors having the capabilities necessary to meet or exceed the stated requirements are invited to submit appropriate documentation, literature, brochures, and references to NASA/George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Attn: Richard W. McClearen/GP49B, Marshall Space Flight Center, AL 35812. (0112)

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