Delivery Order NNL11AA05B-NNL12AA19T

"OTHER FUNCTIONS" IN ORDER TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE ICE WORK, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL ASSIST SMAB IN BENCHMARKING THE CAPABILITY TO GENERATE INDEPENDENT COST ESTIMATES (ICES) FOR LARC PROPOSALS. BUILDING UPON RECENT ICES GENERATED BY SMAB IN SUPPORT OF NASA LARC OCFO, A SINGLE EXAMPLE MISSION PROPOSAL WILL BE CHOSEN THAT WILL THEN BE EVALUATED BY BOTH SMAB CIVIL SERVANTS AND CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL INDEPENDENTLY. THE RESULTS WILL THEN BE COMPARED AND RECONCILED TO UNDERSTAND ANALYST STRATEGIES AND PERSPECTIVES. THE INTENT IS TO UNDERSTAND VARIOUS TYPES OF DIFFERENCES THAT MAY EXIST WHEN EITHER PARTY GENERATES AN ESTIMATE. THE FOCUS WILL BE ON TRANSLATING THE PROJECT MASTER EQUIPMENT LIST (MEL) AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION INTO A WBS 5.0 HARDWARE COST ESTIMATE THAT INCLUDES THE COSTS TO PROCURE HARDWARE ITEMS FROM A POTENTIAL COMBINATION OF PRIME CONTRACTOR AND LARC IN-HOUSE WORK. IN PREPARATION FOR FUTURE ICE WORK, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL PERFORM A THOROUGH AUDIT OF COST, SCHEDULE, AND AFFORDABILITY ESTIMATING CAPABILITIES IN USE BY BOTH SMAB AND THE CONTRACTOR. THE AUDIT SHALL BE BASED ON STATE OF THE ART PRACTICES BY OTHER NASA CENTERS, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, ACADEMIA, AND INDUSTRY. FOCUS OF SUCH ASSESSMENTS SHALL INCLUDE PROBABILISTIC ANALYSIS (BOTH COST AND SCHEDULE), IMPROVED SCHEDULE ESTIMATION, UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFICATION AND INCORPORATION, HARDWARE ESTIMATING MODELS, SOFTWARE ESTIMATING MODELS, OPERATIONS ESTIMATING MODELS, AND RELATED CAPABILITIES. TO ENABLE THESE ASSESSMENTS THE CONTRACTOR SHALL RESEARCH AND APPLY ANY CUTTING-EDGE METHODS OR TOOL CAPABILITIES BEING PUBLISHED IN VARIOUS RESEARCH OUTLETS. THE COST RESEARCH AND ANALOGY LIBRARY (CORAL) IS AN EXCEL/VBA-BASED DATABASE CONTAINING NUMEROUS HISTORIC NASA PROJECT TECHNICAL AND COST DETAILS. PER DIRECTION FROM SMAB, CORAL WAS GENERATED DURING THE SUMMER OF 2011 BY SPACEWORKS ENGINEERING THROUGH A NASA LARC CONTRACT WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AEROSPACE (NIA). THE INTENT OF THE DATABASE IS TO CONSOLIDATE AND ORGANIZE NUMEROUS HISTORICAL AND ESTIMATED COST DATA POINTS IN A SINGLE DATABASE SO THAT FUTURE ANALYSTS CAN SEARCH AND LEVERAGE PAST ANALOGIES FOR FUTURE ESTIMATES.