The center director at the NASA goddard space flight center (gsfc) is responsible for managing the centers diverse and complex research and development portfolio; formulating the centers future…

This federal contract award is for The Aerospace Corporation, a non-profit federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), to provide technical expertise and assessments to support the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Director. The $3,354,108.64 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order contract is intended to assist GSFC leadership in managing the complex research and development portfolio, including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) program, which is a technically challenging successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The Aerospace Corporation will analyze program budgets, schedules, and potential risks, without duplicating the findings of existing independent reviews. This contract does not have a set-aside designation.

The center director at the NASA goddard space flight center (gsfc) is responsible for managing the centers diverse and complex research and development portfolio; formulating the centers future science and technology goals and leading an integrated program of investments and initiatives aligned to meet those goals. Accordingly, aerospace shall provide qualified technical expertise to the goddard center director to conduct assessments of NASA programs and projects, project management, science, engineering and technology in accordance with the priorities as established by the center director. The priorities may change as the center directors discretion. Aerospace is tasked to provide knowledgeable observations in areas requested by the gsfc center director with a focus on program execution and potential risks. Jwst is the planned successor to the hubble space telescope, and is a technically challenging project to build a spacecraft consisting of a 6.5 meter primary mirror and four primary instruments operating in the infrared spectrum at very low temperatures, while orbiting approximately 1.5 million kilometers from the earth. Because of the complexity of the project, jwst is already subject to independent external reviews, and this team is not intended to duplicate or confirm the findings of those reviews. The contractor will be a member of the team that will provide an ad hoc assessment of the program for the center director, analyze the budget, and will identify threats that are not being assessed, if any. Examples of the efforts that the contractor will perform include the list below, but will not be limited to: 1. Conduct special studies and analyses to support center leadership decision making. These may include, but are not limited to: a. Analysis of alternatives and cost estimates; and b. Analysis of alternatives for measuring performance management and success factor indicators. 2. Assess program and project schedules 3. Meetings supporting class c/d missions 4. Develop and present finding on future launch vehicles 5. Support the center on presidential transition activities