Sep 17 2012

From The Space Library

RELEASE: 12-327 OPEN FOR BUSINESS: NASA SEEKS SMALL BUSINESS PROPOSALS FOR HIGH TECH R&D

WASHINGTON -- NASA is seeking proposals for its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs that will create the new technologies needed to enable the agency's future missions while benefiting America. The SBIR and STTR Programs are designed to provide small businesses and nonprofit research institutions with opportunities to compete for federal research and development awards and to stimulate the commercialization of the resulting technology. The programs address specific technology gaps in NASA missions, while striving to complement other agency research investments. Program results have benefited many NASA efforts, ranging from modern air traffic control systems, Earth-observing spacecraft and the International Space Station to Curiosity now roving the Red Planet. "Space technology is the linchpin that joins together NASA's science, aeronautic and exploration goals, providing the essential new knowledge and capabilities that enables our present and future missions," said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program. "The annual solicitation for the SBIR and STTR programs embodies our desire to generate innovative ideas to address NASA's future mission needs by offering a broad collection of research and development needs and opportunities." This year's call includes a new component to NASA's SBIR Program. NASA has added seven select topics in SBIR, representing unique space technology development challenges the agency believes are well suited to the innovation and problem-solving abilities of America's small businesses. By complementing its own efforts with these seven areas, NASA is hoping to improve on an already great program that benefits the agency and America's new technology economy. The highly competitive SBIR and STTR programs are based on a three-phase award system. Phase 1 is a feasibility study to evaluate the scientific and technical merit of an idea. Firms successfully completing Phase 1 are eligible to submit Phase 2 proposals, expanding on the results of Phase 1. Phase 3 includes commercialization of the results of Phase 2, and requires the use of private sector or non-SBIR federal funding as innovations move from the laboratory to the marketplace. The deadline for the two program solicitations is Nov. 29. Selections are expected to be announced in late February 2013. NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., manages the SBIR and STTR programs for the agency's Space Technology Program. NASA's 10 field centers manage individual projects.

RELEASE: C12-049 NASA SELECTS ENGINEERING PRODUCT INTEGRATION CONTRACTOR

HOUSTON -- NASA has selected S&K Global Solutions LLC of Polson, Mont., to consolidate contractor support into an integrated infrastructure approach for the Engineering Directorate at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The three-year, cost-plus fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract begins Oct. 18, 2012, and includes a single two-year option. Work worth as much as $49.9 million may be authorized during the potential five-year duration of the contract. Under the contract, S&K Global will provide computer support and application services to coordinate information technology needs and web-based applications and information sites to efficiently generate and disseminate directorate products. The firm also will provide strategic planning and process improvements to optimize the creation, assessment and integration of directorate products. S&K also will perform configuration management and project facilitation tasks to document, track and control directorate products. Subcontractors working on the contract include Booz Allen Hamilton of McLean, Va., and S&K Aerospace LLC of St. Ignatius, Mont.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-183 GOOGLE+ HANGOUT WITH NASA, SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION CHIEFS SEPT. 19 FEATURES MARS CURIOSITY CONTRACTOR

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills will speak about the contributions of small businesses to the success of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover mission during a Google+ Hangout at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 19. Bolden and Mills will discuss ATA Engineering, which partnered with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory team to test and analyze the entry, descent and landing of Curiosity. The company contributed to the rover's wheels, actuators and thermal control systems. Bolden will speak from ATA Engineering's headquarters in Herndon, Va.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-184 SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR FERRY FLIGHT RESCHEDULED TO SEPT. 19

WASHINGTON -- NASA's ferry flight of space shuttle Endeavour atop the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) is rescheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 19 due to an unfavorable weather forecast along the flight path on Tuesday, Sept. 18. Endeavour now is expected to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Friday, Sept. 21. On Oct. 11, 2011, NASA transferred title and ownership of Endeavour to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The decision to reschedule the flight was made Monday in coordination with the science center to ensure a safe flight for Endeavour and the SCA. Weather predictions are favorable Wednesday for the flight path between Houston and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where the flight will originate. In cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration, the SCA is scheduled to conduct low-level flyovers at about 1,500 feet above locations along the planned flight path. The exact timing and path of the ferry flight will depend on weather conditions and operational constraints. Some planned flyovers or stopovers could be delayed or cancelled. If the ferry flight is postponed again, an additional advisory will be issued. At sunrise on Sept. 19, the SCA and Endeavour will depart Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility and perform a flyover of various areas of the Space Coast, including Kennedy, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base. The aircraft will fly west and conduct low flyovers of NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. As it arrives over the Texas Gulf Coast area, the SCA will perform low flyovers above various areas of Houston and Clear Lake before landing at Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Center. At sunrise on Thursday, Sept. 20, the aircraft will depart Houston, make a refueling stop at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas, and conduct low-level flyovers of White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, N.M., and NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California, before landing around mid-day at Dryden. Options for the NASA Social at Dryden are being evaluated. Attendees for the event will be notified by the NASA social media team once plans are decided. On the morning of Sept. 21, the SCA and Endeavour will take off from Dryden and perform a low-level flyover of northern California, passing near NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., and various landmarks in multiple cities, including Sacramento and San Francisco. The aircraft also will conduct a flyover of many Los Angeles sites before landing about 11 a.m. PDT at LAX. Social media users are encouraged to share their Endeavour sightings using the hashtags #spottheshuttle and #OV105, Endeavour's orbiter vehicle designation. After arrival at LAX, Endeavour will be removed from the SCA and spend a few weeks at a United Airlines hangar undergoing preparations for transport and display. Endeavour then will travel through Inglewood and Los Angeles city streets on a 12-mile journey from the airport to the science center, arriving in the evening on Oct. 13. Beginning Oct. 30, the shuttle will be on display in the science center's Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion, embarking on its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and educate and inspire future generations of explorers. Endeavour completed 25 missions, spent 299 days in orbit, and orbited Earth 4,671 times while traveling 122,883,151 miles.