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

J -- UPGRADE OF EAST AUXILIARY TELESCOPE SOL 9-BE13-48-9-13P DUE 030399 POC Stephanie D. Hunter, Contract Specialist, Phone (281) 483-8523, Fax (281) 244-5331, Email stephanie.d.hunter1@jsc.nasa.gov -- Caroline M. Root, Contracting Officer, Phone (281) 483-4140, Fax (281) 244-5337, Email caroline.m.root1@jsc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.nasa.gov/EPS/JSC/date.html#9-BE13-48-9-13P. E-MAIL: Stephanie D. Hunter, stephanie.d.hunter1@jsc.nasa.gov. THIS NOTICE CONSTITUTES AMENDMENT NO. 3 TO THE COMBINED SYNOPSIS/RFQ FOR UPGRADE OF AUXILIARY TELESCOPE. Companies shall acknowledge all amendment(s) in their quote. This notice serves as the official amendment to subject synopsis/RFQ and a written amendment will not be issued. The purpose of this amendment is to answer the below questions. The due date for receipt of offers is not extended. Question 1. With regard to Item 1, we need clarification of what type of limit controls are desired on the #2 mirror and for a physical horizon sensor. We also need further detail of what type of collimation and focus controls are desired. In particular, how these are desired to be operated and what is the range of motion. We have existing control systems that would meet all of the other specifications under Item 1. However, we do not know how the telescope user desires to interface to the control system, especially with regard to the software interface. We can supply a system that is completely stand-alone and/or that is operated through commands from a PC or other computer. Further detail on the user interface for the 8 axes of control would assist in preparing an appropriate bis. Answer 1. Here is a brief description of how the telescope works. The heliostat at the top of the tower, is a flat mirror that sends the light down into the tunnel to the #2 mirror. The #2 mirror is the imaging mirror. It then sends the light partway back up the tunnel to the #3 mirror, another flat mirror, that reflects the light into the observing room. All three mirrors ride on "carriages" that may roll up and down a railroad-tracklike rail. Focus is achieved by moving the #2 mirror up and down the rail, thus changing the focal distance. The #2 mirror will need simple limit switches, of which the physical makeup is up to the system designer, that simply tell the carriage to quit rolling up or down the rail when it's at the end of it's travel. We estimate that for all applications we will need a travel distance of about 50 feet. We want alinear encoder included to determine the placement of the mirror carriage that is accurate to better than a centimeter, with a readout on the handpaddle in the observing room. Obviously, we will need buttons on the handpaddle for focusing that are simply "up" and "down" switches to engage the carriage motor. Currently, the #2 mirror has manual altitude and azimuth tangent arms for collimation. We want these to be motorized, with buttons on the handpaddle in the observing room labeled something like "up", "down", "left" and "right". We need an angular range of about seven degrees in each axis. We assume the control system will be to a small stand-alone computer, however, it's not a necessity so either type of system would be acceptable. However, we do assume that the observatory will receive the control code so that upgrades and maintenance can be performed on the software. Question 2. We also manufacture high precision worm gears and can replace the existing worm gear on the RA axis that is worn. However, weneed dimensions and specifications for the gear so that we can quote a price. Similarly, without physically inspecting the gear train and bearing, it in difficult to know what parts need repair or replacing and what the cost will be. Is there any way to inspect and/or to obtain drawings or pictures of the mount? Answer 2. Data from the drawing is described below. Copies of the drawings of the worm drive and gear and the heliostat mount can be obtained by contacting Faith Vilas at 281-483-5056. Worm Gear Data: Diametral Pitch: 8 Circular Pitch: .3927 Pitch Diameter: 60.000" Pressure Angle: 20 deg Teeth: 480 O.D. @ Throat Dia: 60.250" Thread Pitch: Single Hand of Helix: Right Addendum: 0.125 Tooth-Tooth Error: 0.0002 Total Composite Error: 0.0006 Worm Data: Linear Pitch: .3297 Thread Pitch: Single Pitch Diameter: 2.2500" Normal Pressure Angle: 20 deg Lead Angle: 3-11 deg Addendum: 0.125 Whole Depth of Tooth (Nom): 0.2696 O.S. Dia: 2.500 Hand of Helix: Right Backlash (with mate): 0.003/0.005 Question 3. We can also supply the CCD camera and transfer optics. However, there are no drawings or pictures of the telescope and the prime focus assembly, so that it is not possible to create a design for the transfer optics. We need to inspect the telescope and/or have pictures or drawings of the prime focus assembly to prepare an accurate quotation. 3.2 The field rotation requirement is simple to supply. Our control systems have field rotation drive hardware and software. However, without a drawing or picture of the assembly, it is impossible to give an accurate quotation. 3.3 We have several different guider systems. However, we need to have drawings, pictures or inspect the telescope to know which system would be best and to give an accurate quotation. Lastly, we do not have any idea what the "main computer system" is that is mentioned. Is this a separate computer that NASA now has in place and desires to maintain (in which case we would need to have some information about the computer), or is this a reference to the master control computer that we would be supplying as part of the 8 axis control system. Answer 3. There is no "prime focus assembly" on this telescope. The image plane is independent of the mechanical assembly or telescope structure. The transfer optics, image plane array, and derotator can either be in the tunnel or in the observing room. If mounted in the tunnel, they would need to be mounted where they would be accessible to the #2's focus and within the azimuth range. If so mounted, it would eliminate the need for the #3 mirror, as the #3's only purpose is to bring light into the observing room. The images to this document, in .gif format. can be obtained by contacting the point of contacts listed in the solicitation. One is a simplified drawing of the light path, and the second is a cutaway view of the McMath-Pierce Telescope. Currently the East Auxiliary telescope is not under any computer control at all. At the bidder's discretion, either a single computer can be used for both telescope control and data acquisition, or separate computers can be used for each function. It might be useful to the bidders to look at the NSO web pages if they need a clearer idea of how the McMath-Pierce Telescope looks and operates, as it is not at all like a "normal" stellar telescope. The URL is: http://www.nso.noao.edu/ Documents related to this procurement are available over the Internet and are in Microsoft Office Suite (Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, or PowerPoint 4.0) format and reside on the 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. Posted 02/19/99 (D-SN300398). (0050)

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