NASA/Lewis Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH 44135

A -- HIGH THRUST-DENSITY OPTICS FOR ADVANCED ION PROULSION SOL RFO3-119631 DUE 032499 POC Kurt A. Straub, Contracting Officer, Phone (216) 433-2769, Fax (216) 433-2480, Email Kurt.A.Straub@lerc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.nasa.gov/EPS/LeRC/date.html#RFO3-119631. E-MAIL: Kurt A. Straub, Kurt.A.Straub@lerc.nasa.gov. This notice is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This procurement is being conducted under the Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP). Title: Development of Carbon-Carbon Electrodes for Ion Propulsion Introduction Ion thrusters have used molybdenum grid panel optics since the mid 1960's, due to the relatively low coefficient of thermal expansion and sputter yield of this material. The screen and accelerator grids typically have matched circular apertures through which the ions are "focused" by an electrostatic gradient. Recent work has indicated that carbon composites may be superior to molybdenum both in terms of thermal expansion and sputter yield. Nature of Procurement NASA plans to establish a development effort in the area ofcarbon optics for advanced ion propulsion. This program is expected to consist of a base program and an optional extension. In the Base Program, the Contractor and NASA will examine possible materials and geometry concepts, leading to fabrication of the preferred design. The option is an extension beyond the Base Program to design and fabricate large diameter optics. A description of the envisioned content of the base program and option is given below. Basic Program The effort in this base program begins with a trade study in which materials and geometry concepts are compared in order to satisfy thruster performance and structural integrity. It is desired to maintain the same perveance and grid life of the NSTAR design, but with at least a two fold increase in thrust density. The most promising concepts will then be selected for detail design compatible with existing NASA 8 cm ion thruster. Following performance analysis and NASA approval, three sets of the selected design(s) are to be fabricated and delivered to NASA. Option The effort in this option of the program is to design and fabricate 30 cm advanced optics using what was learned in the basic program. The optics are to be installed on an NSTAR ion thruster and tested under vacuum. Scope of Work The Contractor shall provide the necessary personnel, facilities, equipment, services, and materials to design and fabricate carbon grid optics for advanced ion propulsion. The Government will provide guidance in selecting aperture geometry and computational analysis for purposes of predicting optics performance. The estimated level of effort for each part of the program is as follows: Basic Program 830 hours Option 1000 hours The hours stated above are only estimates. Any prospective offeror may propose more or less hours, depending on the technical approach chosen. Specific Tasks The Contractor shall accomplish the scope of the work by performing specific tasks which follow. Basic Program Task 1. Preliminary Design NASA will propose approximately six (6) candidate aperture geometries which offer favorable thruster performance. This will likely include conventional circular apertures as well as innovations such as slotted grids, etc. The contractor shall evaluate the practicality of such geometries in terms of manufactorability, dimensional stability, and structural integrity. The Contractor shall prepare a formal oral presentation to explain the structural consequence of each proposed geometry, and provide recommendations. The presentation shall be delivered in Cleveland within 1 month of the effective starting date of this contract. Task 2. Detailed Design The NASA Project Manager will down select from the candidate aperture geometries within fifteen days after the Contractor's presentation. The Contractor shall prepare a detailed design of the selected ion optics geometry(s) and a suitable isolated mounting structure. The design shall coordinate with the NASA 8 cm ion thruster. The design shall be flight representative in nature, compatible with the thermal environment of space and operational use without significant geometric distortion. The design shall be structurally sound, with a reasonable probability of surviving vibration loads likely to be encountered during launch. The Contractor shall present the design and analyses to the NASA Project Manager within 5 months of the effective starting date of this contract by means of an informal written report. The NASA Project Manager will approve and/or submit any revisions of the design to the Contractor within fifteen(15) days after receipt of the report. Task 3 Fabrication of Advanced Ion Optics The Contractor shall fabricate three (3) sets of advanced ion optics and one (1) isolated mounting structure according to the approved design(s). The fabricated parts shall be inspected by the Contractor in order to verify compliance with the approved design. Major discrepancies which would likely impact performance shall be grounds for hardware rejection. Minor discrepancies are to be logged into a final informal report. The ion optics hardware and informal final report shall be delivered to the NASA Project Manager within ten (10) months of the effective date of this contract. Option Task 4. Design of 30 cm Large Diameter Optics This task is an extension beyond the Basic Program. Geometry, materials, and techniques identified in previous tasks shall be applied to large diameter 30 cm ion optics. The Contractor shall prepare a detailed design of advanced optics, including an isolated mounting structure that is compatible with existing NSTAR thruster hardware. The design shall be flight representative in nature, compatible with the thermal environment of space and operational use without significant degradation in performance. The design shall be structurally sound, with a reasonable probability of surviving vibration loads likely to be encountered during launch. The design will be reviewed during a formal presentation at LeRC within 60 days from the agreed starting date of the Option. The NASA Project Manager will approve of/or submit any changes to the design within 15 days after the Contractor's submission. Task 5. Fabrication of 30 cm Optics After receipt of approval, the Contractor shall fabricate three (3) identical sets of advanced 30 cm ion optics, and one (1) isolated mounting structure. The fabricated optics shall be inspected by the Contractor in order to verify compliance with the approved design. Major discrepancies which would likely impact performance shall be grounds for hardware rejection. Minor discrepancies are to be logged into a final informal report. The ion optics hardware and informal final report shall be delivered to the NASA Project Manager within six (6) months from the agreed starting date of the Option. The provisions and clauses in the RFQ are those in effect through FAC 97-10. The SIC code and the small business size standard for this procurement are 3764 and 1,000 employees, respectively. The quoter shall state in their quotation their size status for this procurement. All qualified responsible businesssources may submit a quotation which shall be considered by the agency. Delivery to NASA Glenn Research Center is required within 10 months ARO. Delivery shall be FOB Destination. The DPAS rating for this procurement is DO-C9. Quotations for the items(s) described above may be mailed or faxed to the identified point of contact [or bid distribution office, by the date/time specified and include, solicitation number, FOB destination to this Center, proposed delivery schedule, discount/payment terms, warranty duration (if applicable), taxpayer identification number (TIN), identification of any special commercial terms, and be signed by an authorized company representative. Quoters are encouraged to use the Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items form found at URL: http://procure.arc.nasa.gov/Acq/Forms/Index.html to submit a quotation. If the end product(s) quoted is other than domestic end product(s) as defined in the clause entitled "Buy American Act -- Supplies," the quoter shall so state and shall list the country of origin. The Representations and Certifications required by FAR 52.2l2-3 may be obtained via the internet at URL: http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/msfc/pub/reps_certs/sats/ FAR 52.212-5 is applicable and the following identified clauses are incorporated by reference. Commercial Item Terms and Conditions 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items. As prescribed in 12.301(b)(4), insert the following clause: Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items (Aug 1996) (a) The Contractor agrees to comply with the following FAR clauses, which are incorporated in this contract by reference, to implement provisions of law or executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items: (1) 52.222-3, Convict Labor (E.O. 11755); and (2) 52.233-3, Protest after Award (31 U.S.C 3553). (b) The Contractor agrees to comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (b) which the contracting officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisions of law or executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items or components: (Contracting Officer shall check as appropriate.) _X__ (1) 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government, with Alternate I (41 U.S.C. 253g and 10 U.S.C. 2402). _X__ (2) 52.203-10, Price or Fee Adjustment for Illegal or Improper Activity (41 U.S.C. 423). __X_ (5) 52.219-14, Limitation on Subcontracting (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(14)). _X__ (6) 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (E.O. 11246). _X__ (7) 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Special Disabled and Vietnam Era Veterans (38 U.S.C. 4212). _X_ (8) 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers (29 U.S.C. 793). (c) The Contractor agrees to comply with the FAR clauses in this paragraph (c), applicable to commercial services, which the Contracting Officer has indicated as being incorporated in this contract by reference to implement provisionsof law or executive orders applicable to acquisitions of commercial items or components: (d) Comptroller General Examination of Record. The Contractor agrees to comply with the provisions of this paragraph (d) if this contract was awarded using other than sealed bid, is in excess of the simplified acquisition threshold, and does not contain the clause at 52.215-2, Audit and Records -- Negotiation. (1) The Comptroller General of the United States, or an authorized representative of the Comptroller General, shall have access to and right to examine any of the Contractor's directly pertinent records involving transactions related to this contract. (2) The Contractor shall make available at its offices at all reasonable times the records, materials, and other evidence for examination, audit, or reproduction, until 3 years after final payment under this contract or for any shorter period specified in FAR Subpart 4.7, Contractor Records Retention, of the other clauses of this contract. If this contract is completely or partially terminated, the records relating to the work terminated shall be made available for 3 years after any resulting final termination settlement. Records relating to appeals under the disputes clause or to litigation or the settlement of claims arising under or relating to this contract shall be made available until such appeals, litigation, or claims are finally resolved. (3) As used in this clause, records include books, documents, accounting procedures and practices, and other data, regardless of type and regardless of form. This does not require the Contractor to create or maintain any record that the Contractor does not maintain in the ordinary course of business or pursuant to a provision of law. (e) Notwithstanding the requirements of the clauses in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this clause, the Contractor is not required to include any FAR clause, other than those listed below (and as may be required by an addenda to this paragraph to establish the reasonableness of prices under Part 15), in a subcontract for commercial items or commercial components -- (1) 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (E.O. 11246); (2) 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Special Disabled and Vietnam Era Veterans (38 U.S.C. 2012(a)); (3) 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers (29 U.S.C. 793); and (4) 52.247-64, Preference for Privately-Owned U.S.- Flagged Commercial Vessels (46 U.S.C. 1241) (flow down not required for subcontracts awarded beginning May 1, 1996). (End of clause) Questions regarding this acquisition must be submitted in writing no later than March 18, 1999. Quotations are due by March 24, 1999 to the address specified above and to the attention of the Bid Depository. Award will be based upon overall best value to the Government, with consideration given to the factors of proposed technical merits, price and past performance; other critical requirements (i.e., delivery) if so stated in the RFQ will also be considered. Unless otherwise stated in the solicitation, for selection purposes, technical, price and past performance are essentially equal in importance. It is critical that offerors provide adequate detail to allow evaluation of their offer (see FAR 52.212-1(b). This procurement shall be conducted utilizing Best Value Selection (BVS), which seeks to select an offer based on the best combination of price and qualitative merit of the offers submitted and reduce the administrative burden on the offerors and the Government. BVS takes advantage of the lower complexity of MidRange procurements and predefines the value characteristics which will serve as the discriminators among offers. BVS evaluation is based on the premise that, if all offers are of approximately equal qualitative merit, award will be made to the offeror with the lowest evaluated price (fixed-price contracts) or the Government-determined most probable cost (cost type contracts). However, the Government will consider awarding to an offeror with higher qualitative merit if the difference in price is commensurate with added value. Conversely, the Government will consider making award to an offeror whose offer has lower qualitative merit if the price (or cost) differential between it and other offers warrant doing so. The specifications/statement of work included in the attached model contract serves as the Government's baseline requirements. The following value characteristics establish what the Government considers to be valuable in an offer. These value characteristics are performance based and permit selection of the offer which provides better results for a reasonable marginal increase in price. All offers will be judged against these value characteristics. Cost and technical will be considered equal in importance and will not be assigned weights. On those value characteristics the offeror chooses to provide, adequate information should be submitted to permit proper evaluation. The following value characteristics are applicable to this procurement: 1. Potential Aerospace Applications -- Contractor is familier with Aerospace Applications 2. Past Performance -- Contractor has demonstrated quality work in previous related programs 3. Performance -- Proposed technical approach suggests superior thruster performance. 4. Structural Integrity -- Proposed technical approach suggests superior structural integrity The Government will evaluate offers in two general steps: Step One -- An initial evaluation will be performed to determine if all required information has been provided and the offeror has made a reasonable attempt to present an acceptable offer. Offerors may be contacted only for clarification purposes during the initial evaluation. Offerors determined not to be acceptable shall be notified of their rejection and the reasons therefor and excluded from further consideration. Step Two -- All acceptable offers will be evaluated against the specifications/statement of work in the model contract attached to this solicitation and the value characteristics listed above. Based on this evaluation, the Government has the option, depending on the specific circumstances of the offers received, to utilize one of the following methods: (1) Make selection and award without discussions; or (2) after discussions with all finalists, afford each offeror an opportunity to revise its offer, and then make selection. Quoters must provide copies of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representation and Certifications -- Commercial Items with their quote. See above for where to obtain copies of the form via the Internet. An ombudsman has been appointed -- See Internet Note "B". It is the quoter's responsibility to monitor this site for the release of amendments (if any). Potential quoters will be responsible for downloading their own copy of this combination synopsis/solicitation and amendments (if any). See Note(s) __ [DELETE IF N/A]. Any referenced notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasanote.html. Posted 03/09/99 (D-SN306316). 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