United States - Partnership Opportunity Documents for NASA/GSFC's Earth Venture Instrument Concept Imaging Spectrometer

Description

Added: Sep 16, 2019 3:44 pm

Partnership Opportunity Documents (POD) for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA’S GSFC) Earth Venture Instrument Concept Imaging Spectrometer
9/16/19

1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION
Contracting Office Address:
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Code 210.Y
Greenbelt, MD 20771

2.0 INTRODUCTION / SCOPE
This opportunity is in preparation for the Earth Venture Instrument 6 (EVI-6) opportunity within the Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program, which is estimated to be released in June of 2020.  The partnership opportunity is being issued to select a teaming partner to provide the focal plane module and associated electronics as well as a low vibration cryocooler and associated electronics for a proposed imaging spectrometer. 
The proposed instrument is currently in pre-Phase A.  This phase ends with a Step 1 proposal that is expected to be due 3 months after the AO is released.  If the proposal is selected for implementation, the mission will proceed into Phase A, per NPR 7120.5E.  The team must receive Center approval for authorization to develop a formal proposal.  The concept will be approved to proceed prior to AO release based on its merits including technical maturity and viability within the cost cap as well as likelihood of selection. The following schedule should be used as a basis for responses to this opportunity:
Partnership Opportunity Document released September 16, 2019
Responses due October 16, 2019
Partner Selection announced October 30, 2019
GSFC Strategy Review and Design Review Prior to AO Release
EVI-6 AO Release Date Expected ~ June 2020
Step 1 Proposal in response to EVI-6 AO Expected ~ September 2020

The mission cost cap for this AO is expected to be in the neighborhood of $108M (FY22)/Class C.  There will be no exchange of funds between the teaming partners for the portion of this partnership opportunity dealing with the preparation of the initial submission (Pre-Phase-A, Step 1 proposal) to the EVI-6 AO.  Funding will be available for subsequent phases should the candidate mission concept be competitively selected for those additional phases.
NASA’s GSFC is interested in formally establishing a partner to provide the following:  
• Focal Plane Module (FPM) consisting of HgCdTe detector array and Readout Integrated Circuit (ROIC) and associated electronics. The detector array should be capable of observing from the mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) to the very longwave infrared (VLWIR).
• A low vibration cryocooler thermal mechanical unit capable of cooling the FPM to 40 K and optical bench to < 80 K along with providing the necessary electronics.  
• Instrument would be limb-viewing, provide measurements at 1 km vertical resolution over 4.5-15.3 µm with a spectral resolution of ~0.01 µm.  

3.0 OPPORTUNITY OVERVIEW
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Earth Science Division's Earth Venture portfolio is an element within the Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program. Earth Venture investigations consist of a series of regularly solicited, competitively selected, cost- and schedule-constrained Earth science investigations. They are described in the 2017 report, Thriving on Our Changing Planet. The 2017 Decadal Survey recommended that the existing Earth Venture portfolio be continued and expanded over the coming decade. 

Initiated in 2007, the goal of NASA's Earth Venture portfolio is to provide frequent flight opportunities for high quality, high value, and focused Earth science investigations. These investigations need to be accomplished under a not-to-exceed cost cap that can be developed and flown relatively quickly, generally within five years. The investigations are Principal Investigator (PI) led and are selected through an open competition to ensure broad community involvement and encourage innovative approaches. 

The programmatic objectives of the Earth Venture portfolio are to implement investigations that will: 
• advance scientific knowledge of Earth science processes and systems; 
• add scientific data and other knowledge-based products to data archives for all to access; 
• result in scientific progress and results published in the peer-reviewed literature to encourage, to the maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of the knowledge gained; 
• develop information products, demonstrate relevant applications, and provide data to key applications communities to enhance the overall benefits of a mission; 
• provide opportunities to expand the pool of well-qualified Principal Investigators and Project Managers for implementation of future NASA missions; 
• implement technology advancements that have been accomplished through related programs; and 
• communicate scientific progress and results through popular media, scholastic curricula, and outreach materials that can be used to inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 
 
4.0 STATEMENT OF WORK
It is expected that the selected POD respondent will provide support using their own resources to help develop the required EVI-6 proposal in response to the EVI-6 AO in the following areas:

• A well-defined and documented component (focal plane module, cryocooler, electronics & mechanical packaging) design including CAD drawing(s);
• Instrument component accommodation requirements (Power, Thermal, mounting/packaging, mass, cleanliness, etc.); 
• Component heritage; and
• Component Master Equipment List (MEL).
This will involve meeting with the Principal Investigator (PI) and other proposal team members to establish the instrument functional and performance requirements, to develop the design concept, to identify and articulate capabilities and advantages of the selected approach, to identify and plan the schedule and cost of any necessary technology developments, and to identify and develop mitigation plans for risk areas that may affect mission success.  These efforts will culminate in a Technical Baseline Review prior to AO release, and will include cost estimation for all partner-provided mission elements and for all mission phases.  
The period of performance for concept formulation and proposal development is expected to start upon selection and last until proposal submission.
If the proposal is selected for development and launch, the respondent will be responsible for providing the FPM and cryocooler and their associated electronics, including the design, development, and testing of the provided instrument components.  

5.0 POD RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS
For purposes of this partnership opportunity, the GSFC EVI-6 Team contact is Julia Breed, Julia.W.Breed@nasa.gov, 301-286-9195 (W) or New Opportunities Office, 301-286-5442 (O).
It is the responsibility of potential respondents to monitor the NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS), NASA’S GSFC Procurement Site, https://code200-external.gsfc.nasa.gov/210/procure, for information concerning this POD.
Responses to the Partnership Opportunity Document (POD) shall:
• Address all requirements noted in Section 6.0 of this document.
• Deliver the requested information in a standard presentation format (viewgraphs such as Power Point) that shall not exceed 30 pages.  
Responses will be treated as proprietary information and controlled as such by GSFC for the US Government.
Final presentation packages [electronic copy only], Portable Document Format (PDF) recommended must be received by 5 pm EST, October 16, 2019.   Presentations are to be delivered to Julia Breed, Julia.W.Breed@nasa.gov at the listed email address. 

6.0 EVALUATION FACTORS AND CRITERIA
The evaluation team will use the following factors in selection and award:

1. Technical Approach (40%).  Respondents will be evaluated on their ability to meet the technical requirements.  This includes demonstrated understanding of the requirements and proposed approach to meet those requirements.  

2. Proposal Support (skills and manpower offered, relevant experience, past performance) (40%).  This includes the skills and level of effort allocated to concept formulation and proposal support.  Special emphasis will be given to demonstrated experience with similar instruments.

3. Cost (20%). Respondents will be evaluated on their Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) manpower and cost estimate and on the reasonableness of this estimate.

Respondents shall: 
• Identify assumed instrument requirements and the approach to addressing those requirements.
• Summarize relevant heritage and experience in the design, fabrication, integration and testing of similar space-flight instruments.
• Highlight particularly critical or challenging areas for the design of the instrument.
• Describe unique capabilities and benefits relevant to this instrument.
• Identify available design and modeling capabilities required to support development of the instrument components.
• Identify fabrication and testing facilities that will be required to support development and testing of the instrument components.
• Indicate what level of resources will be allocated to concept formulation and proposal development.
• Discuss the skills that will be provided, and any ideas regarding important analysis and trade studies that may be needed.
• Provide a ROM manpower and cost estimate for the design, fabrication, and testing of the instrument components being provided.
• Provide suggestions of any additional capabilities relevant to development of this instrument up to and including delivery of the full instrument, including ROM cost.

Opportunity closing date

16 October 2019

Value of contract

to be confirmed