Sep 9 2009
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it had awarded a contract modification to L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP of Waco, Texas, to extend through 31 December 2009 the period of performance for further developmental engineering in support of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) mission. The joint program of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, SOFIA included a high-altitude, airborne, German-built 2.5-meter (100-inch) infrared telescope. Mounted in a cavity in the rear fuselage of a highly modified Boeing-747SP jetliner, the telescope had scientific instruments capable of celestial observations ranging from visible light through the submillimeter, far-infrared spectrum. L-3 Communications was responsible for completing development and testing of the SOFIA Airborne System, including modification, fabrication, installation, integration, and verification of various systems to meet mission requirements. The contract modification covered completion of the SOFIA subsystems, such as the mission-control and communications system; engineering and flight-test support for the telescope-cavity-door-open flight tests and the science programs; and support for reviews leading to NASA’s public aircraft certification. The option modification brought the total value of the contract to approximately US$37.7 million. NASA had not yet exercised the two additional one- year-option periods allowed under the initial cost-plus-award-fee contract with L-3 Communications Integrated Systems. The initial contract had taken effect in February 2007.
NASA, “NASA Awards SOFIA Contract Option to L-3 Communications,” news release C09-044, 9 September 2009, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/sep/HQ_C09-044_SOFIA_Option.html (accessed 15 September 2011).
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