NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 211, Greenbelt, MD 20771

D -- MSC.NASTRAN STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS COMPUTER PROGRAM SOL RFP5-55120-029 POC Kim Sweep, Contract Specialist, Phone (301) 286-6362, Fax (301) 286-1654, Email ksweep@pop200.gsfc.nasa.gov -- Patrick D. Logan, Contracting Officer, Phone (301)286-7244, Fax (301)286-1654, Email Patrick.D.Logan.1@gsfc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=51#RFP5-5512 0-029. E-MAIL: Kim Sweep, ksweep@pop200.gsfc.nasa.gov. NASA/GSFC plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP), on a non-competitive basis to MSC.Software for the licensing and use of their MSC.Nastran structural analysis computer program. Nastran is a computer program originally developed by NASA in the late 1960s. It was designed to analyze a wide variety of structures by use of the finite element method (FEM). It is still a standard in the Government and industry. Many NASA contracts require the delivery of structural mathematical models in Nastran format. The specific features and criteria required of the NASTRAN software program include the following: 1) Direct Matrix Abstraction Programming (DMAP), including a programmer's manual or other documentation allowing users to make use of DMAP. 2) Substructure analysis that allows a structure to be broken down into one or more "substructures" or "super elements." 3) Software which is capable of solving problems with degrees of freedom (DOF) limited only by practical machine capacity, not by software limitations, i.e., problems well in excess of 64,000 DOF; 4) At a minimum, the software must be ported to and supported on Silicon Graphics compute servers running the Irix operating system, version 6.4 and up. Availability on other brands of Unix machines is desirable; 5) The software must be ported to and supported on a variety of brands of "IBM compatible" (Intel architecture based) "PC" machines running the Windows NT V4 and higher operating system; 6) The Contractor must provide a complete set of documentation. The documentation set must include as a minimum a User's Manual, a Theoretical Manual, a demonstration Problem Manual, and a Programmer's Manual. The latter manual must contain detailed information on the functionality and DMAP calling sequence for every module in the program plus sufficient details about data blocks to allow users to write their own pre- or post-processors; 7) The Contractor must provide a single point of contact for telephone technical support during normal business hours (between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM), assuming an Eastern United States time zone, Monday through Friday (excluding Federal Government holidays). Originally, NASA maintained a "Government" version of the NASTRAN code, but abandoned maintaining it in the 1970's. The rationale was that private vendors were capable of maintaining the code at a more reasonable cost than the Government. To date, only one company, MSC Software has continued to maintain the NASTRAN Code. Therefore, based on the above, NASA/GSFC intends to acquire licenses for NASTRAN from MSC Software, Mount Laurel, NJ, on a sole source basis under the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), Only One Responsible Source. The Government intends to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12. See Note 22. An Ombudsman has been appointed. See Internet Note "B". Interested firms have 15 days from the publication of this synopsis to submit in writing to the identified point of contact, their qualifications/capabilities. Such qualification/capabilities will be used solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government to not compete this proposed effort on a full and open competitive basis, based upon responses to this notice is solely within the descretion of the Government. All qualified responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency. Any referenced notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasanote.html Posted 05/27/00 (D-SN459415). (0148)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0040 20000601\D-0006.SOL)