NASA/SSC has a requirement for research and development services from the Mississippi Research Consortium. This pre-solicitation synopsis is to notify industry of the government's intent.
NASA/SSC intends to purchase the items from the Mississippi Research Consortium under the authority of FAR 6.302-3 and 10 U.S.C. 2304 (c)(3), Industrial Mobilization; Engineering, Developmental, or Research Capacity; or Expert Services.
The Statement of Work is as follows:
Section 1. Introduction
The Contractor shall provide engineering and scientific research to NASA, the tenant agencies at the John C. Stennis Space Center, and other Government agencies in areas of remote sensing applications, ecosystem integration and analysis, coastal community resiliency and sustainable development, sediment transport and management and nutrient input, water quality, climate change and climate variability effects on regional ecosystems, advanced environmental education techniques, acoustics, image analysis, geographic information systems, computational fluid dynamics, polymers/ceramics, electron microscopy, microelectronics, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), magneto hydrodynamics, diagnostic instrumentation, and other associated scientific, computational and engineering areas. Examples of the anticipated research in these areas of discipline are described in Section 5 below.
The Mississippi Research Consortium (MRC) is a collaboration of four Mississippi universities dedicated to providing research and technology development to various state and federal agencies. The MRC consists of Jackson State University (JSU), Mississippi State University (MSU), University of Southern Mississippi (USM), and the University of Mississippi (UM).
Section 2. Administering Institution
The contract will be administered by a single MRC institution that will serve as the MRC liaison to NASA in the performance of this contract. The administering institution will be responsible for:
•Receiving statements of work (SOW) from the NASA/SSC Office of Procurement.
•Distribute the SOW within three working days to each MRC institution's office of sponsored research with instructions on the procedure and required schedule for submitting proposals.
•Collecting and reviewing the proposals to verify that the technical requirements are met and adequate budgetary and schedule information is included.
•Providing all submitted proposals to NASA/SSC in a timely manner, along with the MRC's recommendation of the proposal that best meets the requirements of the SOW and provides the best value to the government.
•Provide the total cost of the proposed research to the government.
•When a fixed cost research proposal is funded by NASA/SSC, the MRC will enter into a contract with the MRC institution selected by NASA/SSC to conduct the research.
•Performing general oversight and administrative functions.
•Providing monthly invoices to NASA/NSSC.
•Providing status reports on project schedules to the MRC institutions, the NASA contracting officer (CO) and NASA contracting officer technical representative (COTR).
•Require each Principal Investigator (PI) provide a technical report at the conclusion of the research before final payment is made to the PI or the PI’s institution.
•Provide NASA/SSC/COTR one copy of all final reports within 90 days of completion of each project.
•Include the final report for each project in the NASA/SSC Technical Documentation System prior to closeout of a project.
•Close out all projects within 90 days of completion of each project.
Also included in the management plan must be a description of the statistics to be collected and periodically reported.
NASA will select the administering institution based on an evaluation of "proposals for administration" which may be submitted by any MRC institution.
The proposal for administration must include a detailed management plan that describes the process flow that would be used for operation of the MRC. The management plan narrative is limited to 10 pages, and the entire proposal, including pricing and personnel qualifications is limited to a total of 20 pages, including all attachments.
Section 3. Value Characteristics - Listed below are the value characteristics that will be used in evaluating each offer.
a) Management Plan 60%
b) Management Personnel Qualifications 40%
Section 4. Contract Type - The Government intends to award a five(5)year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type contract with a total estimated contract value for the five-year period of $10,000,000.
Section 5. Typical Examples of Research Required
•Development and/or improvement of models and data collection for the forecasting of surface wind, air temperature, and atmospheric pressures.
•Review and analysis of the economic impact of SSC on the local area.
•Research and development of advanced methods of uncertainty analysis applicable to rocket engine testing.
•Studies, analytical predictions and empirical data on the present metallurgy and life expectancy of heat affected and/or heavily corroded test facility fixtures included support structure, flame deflectors and rocket diffusers.
•Support for the examination and study of aging concrete in a highly dynamic rocket test stand environment. This effort should include the tie-ins for steel structure to the concrete.
•Analytical models and collection of experimental data from subscale test models of rocket engine test facilities to support the development of acoustic energy impact and structural dynamics as a response to acoustic energy inputs.
•Data collection and study leading to research and development of appropriate methods to repair/replace aging underground water piping and service valves.
•Novel approaches to the generation and recovery of specialized gases and liquids in the rocket test environment including both gas and liquid phases of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and helium.
•Study and dissemination of modern approaches to the analysis of fatigue and remaining life on facilities exposed to rocket engine test environments.
•Theoretical based analysis and design of high heat flux components for rocket flame deflectors and rocket engine diffusers. This effort could be coupled with build up of subscale testing facilities and collection of empirical data to anchor the analytical models – i.e. testing a small rocket engine over a flame deflector to provide detailed information regarding design for maximum cooling efficiency.
•Research and development into methods to collect and analyze the constituents of rocket engine propellant in real time during hotfire testing.
•Novel approaches into the measurement and mitigation of hydrogen propellant in potentially flammable or explosive environments
•Research and development of advanced computational fluid dynamics applicable to rocket engine testing.
•Research and development of advanced modeling and simulation methods for rocket engine test facilities.
•Review and analysis of strategic program requirements including trend analysis, program trades and development, and long-range implementation planning.
•Provide research and development of scientific instruments and sensors used in rocket propulsion testing and the monitoring of the environment during testing.
•Research and development of advanced mathematical techniques that support the creation of accurate, predictive models of atmospheric, oceanographic, coastal, estuarine, and riverine dynamics and processes.
•Research and development of techniques that improve the integrated analysis of remote sensing and in-situ coastal, estuarine, and riverine data sets.
•Research and development of hydrodynamic models of coastal, estuarine, and riverine systems which can be used to assess watershed processes, sediment transport, storm water runoff and related water quality issues.
•Research and development of techniques that utilize remote sensing data to identify and monitor coastal, estuarine, and riverine habitats.
•Research the effects of eutrophication, elevated bacteria levels, harmful algal blooms, hypoxia, and toxic contamination of fish and wildlife.
•Provide basic and applied geosciences research in the coastal marine environment to provide information, knowledge, and technology to support sound decision-making and natural resource management.
•Perform research that takes advantage of remote sensing technologies focused on climate change and climate variability effects upon marine ecosystems and the socio-economic well being of the region and adjacent watersheds.
•Perform research into the utilization of satellite and airborne imagery to support coastal habitat change, land use and land cover, coastal forestry activities, and ecosystem integration and analysis.
The Government intends to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12.
This synopsis should not be construed as a formal request for proposals, but rather a presolicitation synopsis requesting information under the authority of FAR 15.201. Responses to this request for information are not offers and cannot be accepted by the agency to form a binding contract. This presolicitation synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information solicited. NASA/SSC does not intend to award a contract at this time but will use information obtained for market analysis and to plan future procurements.
Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort in writing to the identified point of contact not later than 4:30 p.m. local time on April 21, 2008. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government.
Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.
All responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency.
An Ombudsman has been appointed. See NASA Specific Note "B".
Any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.
