MAIN BELT ASTEROID SAMPLE RETURN MISSION SUPPORT THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PERFORM THE WORK THAT IS DESIGNATED I…

Public award description

MAIN BELT ASTEROID SAMPLE RETURN MISSION SUPPORT THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PERFORM THE WORK THAT IS DESIGNATED IN TASK ORDERS ISSUED BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER. THE OVERALL SCOPE OF WORK TO BE PERFORMED WILL SUPPORT ALL OF NASA S MISSION DIRECTORATES. THESE EFFORTS CAN BE CHARACTERIZED AS AEROSPACE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND ENGINEERING SUPPORT (ARDES). THE GENERAL NATURE OF THE TASKS TO BE DEVELOPED WILL BE TO CONDUCT SUPPORTING RESEARCH AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT DESIGNED TO MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS TO SPACE SCIENCE AND SPACE EXPLORATION AND ASSIST NASA IN THE FORMULATION AND EXECUTION OF ITS PROGRAMS BY PROVIDING NASA WITH TECHNICAL ADVICE, STUDIES, AND REPORTS OF INVESTIGATIONS. EFFORTS UNDERTAKEN BY THE CONTRACTOR, IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ASSIGNED TASKS, WHICH INCLUDE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, PARTNERING AND COMMERCIALIZATION ACTIVITIES, SHALL SEEK TO ENHANCE THE VALUE AND CONTRIBUTION OF TECHNOLOGY TO THE NATION S TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETITIVENESS, PROSPERITY, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND OTHER NATIONAL PRIORITIES. INDIVIDUAL TASK ORDERS WILL FALL WITHIN ONE OF TWO BROAD CATEGORIES: 1) ESSENTIAL RESEARCH CAPABILITY OF SPACE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, AND RELATED WORK IN THE SUPPORTING ESSENTIAL RESEARCH CAPABILITIES OF SYSTEMS TEST AND EVALUATION, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, AND SIMULATION, MODELING AND OPERATIONS ANALYSIS . TASK ORDERS WITHIN THE CATEGORY OF ESSENTIAL RESEARCH CAPABILITIES ARE INTENDED TO PRESERVE THE NATION S CAPABILITIES TO PERFORM ROBOTIC SPACE MISSIONS OVER THE FULL MISSION LIFE CYCLE FROM CONCEPT FORMULATION THROUGH MISSION OPERATIONS AND DATA ANALYSIS. NASA IS CONTRACTING FOR SUPPORT IN SEVERAL KEY RESEARCH, ENGINEERING AND DEVELOPMENT COMPETENCIES THAT ARE FUNDAMENTAL TO THE PERFORMANCE OF THESE MISSIONS. 2) OTHER AEROSPACE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND ENGINEERING SUPPORT. TASK ORDERS WITHIN THE CATEGORY OF OTHER AEROSPACE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING SUPPORT ARE INTENDED TO INCLUDE A BROAD BASE OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES RELEVANT TO NASA PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS REGARDLESS OF CATEGORY, TASK ORDERS MAY BE ISSUED RELATED TO AUTONOMOUS DEEP-SPACE AND EARTH-ORBITING SPACECRAFT OR MAJOR SUBSYSTEMS, EXPERIMENTS, INSTRUMENTS OR OTHER DEVICES THAT MAY BE CARRIED AS PAYLOADS ON THE SPACE SHUTTLE OR ON OTHER SPACECRAFT. TASK ASSIGNMENTS WILL EXPLICITLY DESCRIBE A BROAD RANGE OF HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS, AND MANAGEMENT EFFORTS INCLUDING PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.