NASA/Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 144, Industry Assistance Office, Hampton, VA 23681-0001

A -- TEAMING OPPORTUNITY FOR GEOSTATIONARY OBSERVATORY FOR TROPOSPHERIC AIR CHEMISTRY (GEOTRACE) GROUND SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT SOL SS309 DUE 071699 POC Alan D. Little, GeoTrace Proposal Manager, Phone (757) 864-1656, Fax (757) 864-1763, Email a.d.little@larc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.nasa.gov/EPS/LaRC/date.html#SS309. E-MAIL: Alan D. Little, a.d.little@larc.nasa.gov. The Langley Research Center is currently conducting a study and preparing a proposal for a Geostationary Observatory for Tropospheric Air Chemistry (GeoTRACE) mission to be operational in early 2003. The study, sponsored by NASA's New Millennium Program (NMP), was awarded as a result of a NASA Research Announcement, NRA-98-OES-12, for NEW MILLENNIUM PROGRAM MEASUREMENT CONCEPTS. The LaRC is seeking team members to participate with NASA LaRC in developing the proposal and implementing a mission to validate the GeoTRACE measurement concept and associated technologies. The NASA NMP is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to identify, flight validate, and infuse key advanced technologies and capabilities needed to enable 21st century NASA space and earth science missions. The Program focuses on technology validation in a systems and subsystems approach to retire risk for the first use of such technology in a science mission. The GeoTRACE measurement concept will provide a new measurement capability to image a suite of atmospheric trace gases from geostationary orbit to produce full Earth disk diurnal time series images with high spatial resolution and unprecedented temporal resolution. This measurement concept provides tropospheric measurements of carbon monoxide, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide with a spatial resolution of 7-20 km at low and middle latitudes with a temporal resolution of 15 minutes. This particular suite of trace gases measurements provides the data necessary to understand the physical and chemical processes responsible for the evolution of the distribution of tropospheric ozone and will radically improve the scientific community's insight into how the global distribution of tropospheric ozone has been affected by local and regional emissions of its key precursors. In addition to these key trace gases related to tropospheric photochemistry, the proposed method can also provide measurements of methane, nitrous oxide, and total column ozone, as well as sulfur dioxide and aerosols from strong point sources. As currently conceived, the payload consists of two instruments: 1) an imaging uv-visible spectrometer, and 2) an infrared filter radiometer, imaging the full Earth disk using Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs). The GeoTRACE mission study team is particularly interested in technologies and ground system designs that minimize ground segment costs and operations costs. For the preparation of the detailed GeoTRACE proposal, the LaRC is interested in partnering with organizations that can provide the necessary workforce and facilities to complete ground segment (e.g. command & control system, ground station & front end processors, ground network, sustaining engineering, mission operations support) development using the knowledge base derived from existing ground system segments for space-based systems, as well as preliminary GeoTRACE operations concepts being developed by the GeoTRACE study team. Responses are solicited from all US industries, academia, non-profit organizations, NASA centers, national laboratories, other government agencies, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). LaRC anticipates issuing contracts or agreements to the providers for delivery of the ground segment selected from this synopsis, provided the GeoTRACE concept is selected for implementation. Each provider is expected to become a full member of the mission implementation team. After mission selection the NASA Office of Earth Science (OES) may issue an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for science which supplements the concept defined by the GeoTRACE mission study team. The responses to the science AO will be peer reviewed and the NASA OES will select the winning proposals. Interested organizations should provide the LaRC with a short information package (not to exceed ten pages and addressing each of the criteria listed below) on what the organization is willing to accomplish on the GeoTRACE development, how that would be accomplished, and Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimates. Proposals willbe evaluated based on the following criteria in the following order of importance: (1) Recent relevant experience, past performance, technical capability and availability of key personnel; (2) Cost and Schedule control; and (3) Facilities. These criteria are defined as follows: 1. Recent relevant experience, past performance, technical capability and availability of key personnel: This criteria evaluates the proposer's relevant recent experience, past performance in similar development activities, technical capability to perform the development and key personnel available for the development. The proposer should provide substantive evidence that the proposer has successfully participated in similar developments including: customer references (points of contact and current telephone numbers); technical ability to complete the development; ability to minimize cost through the use of COTS software; experience in flight experiments; and availability of key personnel with appropriate experience skill levels. 2. Cost and Schedule control: This criteria evaluates the proposer's ability to control both cost and schedule, has management processes in-place to control these, understands the relationship of cost and schedule, and demonstrated ability to work within mission time constraints. The proposer should provide evidence of successfully controlling costs and schedule for similar developments, how project management schedule and cost control processes are implemented, and how the proposer evaluates the interaction of cost and schedule during a development. 3. Facilities: This criterion evaluates the proposer's facilities or access to other's facilities to conduct the development and ground qualification of the concept. The proposer should describe what facilities are controlled/available to the proposer, how access to any other needed facilities will be accomplished, and any government facilities needed to complete the development. It is expected that the teaming organizations will participate actively in the GeoTRACE detailed proposal preparation from July through early September of this year. It is not the intent of the LaRC to reimburse organizations for the cost of submitting information in response to this synopsis, or to pay for proposal preparation costs incurred by team members. It is anticipated that selection of the proposal for Phase II mission implementation and the availability of funds would result in ground segment contract(s) for the selected partner. This synopsis teaming opportunity document does not represent a guarantee of selection for award of any contracts, nor is it to be construed as a commitment by NASA to pay for the information solicited. It is expected that partner(s) selected would provide (at no cost to NASA) conceptual designs, technical data, proposal inputs (e.g. operational concepts), project schedules, and cost estimates consistent with the study guidelines provided by the NMP during the proposal process. Organizations with expertise and interest in this opportunity may contact Alan Little, MS 152D, NASA LaRC, Hampton, VA 23681, phone 757-864-1656, fax 757-864-1763, e-mail: a.d.little@larc.nasa.gov to obtain additional details of the present design status, or to discuss qualifications, capabilities, (ROM) cost and schedule estimates. All responses and questions should be sent to the following person and address: Mr. Alan Little, NASA Langley Research Center, MS 152D, Hampton, VA 23681 or email to a.d.little@larc.nasa.gov or fax 757-864-1763. The due date for submission is COB July 16, 1999. Posted 07/02/99 (D-SN350148). (0183)

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