A -- DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTROSTATICALLY CLEAN SOLAR PANELS WITH APERTURES

Notice Date

May 23, 2001

Contracting Office

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 215, Greenbelt, MD 20771

ZIP Code

20771

Solicitation Number

RFO5-06430-236

Response Due

July 13, 2001

Point of Contact

Steve Lloyd, Contracting Officer, Phone (301)286-5971, Fax (301)286-1720, Email Steven.R.Lloyd.1@gsfc.nasa.gov

E-Mail Address

Steve Lloyd (Steven.R.Lloyd.1@gsfc.nasa.gov)

Description

NASA/Godddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) plans to issue a Request for Offer (RFO) for the improvement of an inexpensive and reliable method of producing electrostatically clean solar panels for the Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS) and Global Electrodynamics (GED) Solar Arrays. The requirements include the production of a minimum of one qualification panel and a prototype panel. Under a previous NASA contract, a composite graphite fiber aperture was developed that fit over the spaces between the cells. The aperture, which was insulated on the backside, kept the spaces between the cells at spacecraft potential and did not allow the space plasma to see array potential. This acquisition focuses on apects of the work that were not completely solved. The electrical connection between the indium tin oxide coated covers and the aperture was not as reliable as required after thermal cycling and the covers had an anti-reflection (AR) coating that interfered with good electrical connection to the covers. Another aspect remained untried, namely the repair of a broken cover or cracked solar cell. Also, further optimization is desired in terms of the power loss caused by the aperture and the weight increase caused by the aperture. It may also be possible to increase the number of cells under a single cover, which were two under the previous effort. It is anticipated that the resultant contract will be firm-fixed price and is limited to a budget of $300,000. The acquisition will be conducted using NASA MidRange procedures found in NASA FAR Supplement Part 1871. The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12 (See Note 26). This procurement is a total small business set-aside (See Note 1). The NAICS Code and Size Standard are 541710 and 500 employees, respectively. The DPAS Rating for this procurement is DO-C9. An ombudsman has been appointed -- See NASA Specific Note "B". 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 15 June 2001 with an anticipated offer due date approximately 30 days later after the RFO is released. The solicitation and any documents related to this procurement will be available over the Internet. These documents will be in Microsoft Office 97 format and will reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA/GSFC Business Opportunities home page is http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=C&pin=51 Prospective offerors are encouraged to notify this office of their intent to submit an offer. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the Internet site 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/nasanote.html

Web Link

Click here for the latest information about this notice (http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=51#RFO5-06430-236)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010525/ASOL006.HTM (D-143 SN50M9B2)