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

18 -- AIRBORNE SUPPORT EQUIPMENT CRADLE FOR X-38 SOL 9-BE13-18-8-34P POC Yolande B. Harden, Contracting Officer, Phone (281) 483-9953, Fax (281) 244-5337, Email yolande.b.harden1@jsc.nasa.gov -- Yolande B. Harden, Contracting Officer, Phone (281) 483-9953, Fax (281) 244-5337, Email yolande.b.harden1@jsc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.nasa.gov/EPS/JSC/date.html#9-BE13-18-8-34P. E-MAIL: Yolande B. Harden, yolande.b.harden1@jsc.nasa.gov. NASA/JSC plans to issue a Request for Offer (RFO) for the design, development, test, and delivery of an Airborne Support Equipment (ASE) cradle to facilitate attachment of the Experimental Crew Return Vehicle (X 38) in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter. The X-38 is a lifting body spacecraft which, after deployment from the payload bay, re-enters the Earth s atmosphere and employs a parachute-assisted land landing. The cradle is used only for the ascent phase of the Shuttle mission and does not deploy from the Orbiter payload bay. A five point attach system shall be used to attach the cradle to the Orbiter payload bay. The X-38 will incorporate trunions (3.25 DIA) used in this attachment and therefore the cradle shall incorporate deployable latches, similar to, or the same as, the standard payload retention latches used on the Orbiter longerons. The cradle is only used for attachment of the forward portion of the spacecraft since the aft end is attached directly to the Orbiter fittings in thepayload bay. The cradle shall be designed and certified for an 8 mission life. Only structural design and hardware is required for this work. As such, there will be no thermal control systems, pyrotechnics, or electrical hardware required. Delivery of the cradle hardware is to be 12 months after contract award. The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12. See Note 26. The SIC Code and Size Standard are 3769 and 1000 employees, respectively. The DPAS Rating for this procurement is DO-C9. The provisions and clauses in the RFO and model contract are those in effect through FAC 97-04. All qualified responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency. The anticipated release date of the RFO is on or about July 17, 1998 with an anticipated offer due date of on or about August 14, 1998. An ombudsman has been appointed -- See Internet Note "B". The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. These documents will be in Microsoft Office Suite (Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0) 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 and/or the CBD 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 notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nnotes.htm. Posted 06/30/98 (0181)

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