PURCHASE OF TWO PAIRS OF CUSTOM-MADE CALCIUM FLUORIDE ASPHERIC LENSES TO BE USED AS PHASE INDUCED AMPLITUDE…

Public award description

PURCHASE OF TWO PAIRS OF CUSTOM-MADE CALCIUM FLUORIDE ASPHERIC LENSES TO BE USED AS PHASE INDUCED AMPLITUDE APODIZERS IN THE AMES CORONAGRAPH EXPERIMENT TESTBED. THE ASPHERIC LENS SETS THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS PROCUREMENT ARE UNIQUE TO THIS APPLICATION. THE LENS DESIGN DOES NOT USE CONIC SECTIONS OR ANY OTHER ANALYTICAL SHAPES THAT CAN BE DESCRIBED WITH CLOSED-FORM EQUATIONS. THESE DESIGNS ARE TRULY GENERALIZED ASPHERES THAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED IN NUMERICAL TABLES. THESE PROPERTIES SEVERELY LIMIT THE NUMBER OF VENDORS CAPABLE OF MAKING THE LENSES. WE HAVE CONDUCTED EXTENSIVE MARKET RESEARCH, CALLING ON EXPERTS IN THE FIELD OF ADAPTIVE OPTICS TO IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL SOURCES FOR THIS PROCUREMENT. SIXTEEN FIRMS WERE CONTACTED, AND ONLY TWO QUOTES DEEMED TO BE RESPONSIVE WERE RECEIVED. OF THE TWO QUOTES, AXSYS IS LESS EXPENSIVE BY NEARLY A FACTOR OF TWO. THE HIGH PERCENTAGE OF REFUSAL TO BID REINFORCES OUR CONCLUSION THAT THE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS PROCUREMENT RESULT IN A VERY LIMITED NUMBER OF CAPABLE VENDORS. WHILE AXSYS IS NOT STRICTLY THE SOLE VENDOR CAPABLE OF SUPPLYING THIS ITEM, THEIR QUOTED PRICE AND THEIR PROVEN TRACK RECORD MAKE THEM THE ONLY CHOICE WORTH CONSIDERING FOR THIS PURCHASE. AXSYS TECHNOLOGIES IS THE ONLY VENDOR TO SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATE THE ABILITY TO MAKE THESE COMPLEX OPTICS. THEY HAVE ALREADY MADE A VERY SIMILAR SET OF LENSES THAT MEET OUR SPECIFICATIONS, AND HAVE ALREADY DONE THE CRITICAL NON-RECURRING ENGINEERING, NRE OF CONVERTING OUR MATHEMATICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF THE LENS SURFACES INTO COMMANDS FOR THEIR MANUFACTURING MACHINES. THEIR PROCESS HAS ALSO BEEN VALIDATED AS PRODUCING OPTICS OF THE DESIRED SHAPE WITH THE REQUIRED LOW SURFACE ERROR. CHOOSING ANOTHER VENDOR WOULD ADD COST, DELAY, AND RISK SINCE THIS NRE WOULD HAVE TO BE REPEATED - POSSIBLY ERRONEOUSLY - BY THE NEW VENDOR. SELECTING ANOTHER SOURCE WOULD DELAY THE MILESTONES OF THE AMES CORONAGRAPH EXPERIMENT TESTBED, REDUCING THE CHANCE THAT AMES COULD CONTRIBUTE TO A NASA FLIGHT MISSION FOR DETECTING EXTRASOLAR PLANETS. THE ONLY OTHER CREDIBLE QUOTE, FROM COASTAL OPTICAL SYSTEMS, WOULD INCREASE PROJECT COSTS BY NEARLY $20,000, AND WOULD ALSO ADD CONSIDERABLE PERFORMANCE RISK SINCE COASTAL LACKS AXSYS DEMONSTRATED ABILITY TO MANUFACTURE THESE COMPLEX OPTICS. PURCHASING THESE OPTICS FROM ANY AVAILABLE SOURCE OTHER THAN AXSYS IS NOT IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE GOVERNMENT.