140G0322Q0167_-_Q_and_A_FINAL_0001.pdf

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140G0322Q0167 – Questions and Answers

Q: May companies from outside the USA apply (i.e., India or Canada)?

A: No, it is reserved for small US businesses.

Q: Do we need to come over there for meetings?

A: No

Q: Can we perform the tasks related to the RFP outside of the USA?

A: No

Q: Can we submit proposals via email?

A: Proposals will be accepted only via email.

Q: Do the images have to be modified to fit within the PDS4 system?

A: Yes. Both the data/images and the browse images are not allowed within PDS4. The data images are compressed using HUFFMAN_FIRST_DIFFERENCE as described in the archive’s documentation. They will need to be converted to a simple uncompressed formed for PDS4.

Q: Can you describe the current labor-intensive PDS3 to PDS4 process?

A: PDS4 require mapping to a totally different information model. This is described (with additional) links here: https://ode.rsl.wustl.edu/mercury/pagehelp/Content/Introduction/Data_Standards.htm and also briefly outlined in the abstract:

https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/planetdata2021/pdf/7036.pdf

Q: Is there an incumbent for this request? If so, could you provide the associated contract number? Is the incumbent eligible to participate?

A: No

Q: In section 11 52.212-2 EVALUATION-COMMERCIAL ITEMS, the Government refers to the "availability of equipment and personnel." Other than personnel, should the contractor provide equipment, such as cloud hosting and storage, during the conversion process?

A: All migration work will be completed by the contractor using their own compute and storage.

Q: In section 11 52.212-2 EVALUATION-COMMERCIAL ITEMS, the Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement.

Does the Government anticipate any Option Periods beyond the estimated period of performance from

07/18/2022 to 01/20/2023?

A: No

Q: In the STATEMENT OF WORK, section 1, the government estimates "nearly 1.7 petabytes of data." Do all the 1.7 petabytes need to be converted to PDS4?

A: No. This only includes the Viking Orbiter archive. The Viking Orbiter archives to be migrated as listed in the statement of work includes: (1) Experiment Data Records, (2) Digital Image Maps, (3) Digital https://ode.rsl.wustl.edu/mercury/pagehelp/Content/Introduction/Data_Standards.htm

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Topographic Maps, (4) Digital Color Mosaics, and (5) High Resolution Mosaicked Digital Image Maps.

From here: https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/volumes/viking.html#vkoEDR (or v0_1001 to vo_2022).

Q: Is the Government looking for a Firm-fixed-price, Cost-Reimbursement, or other pricing type?

A: Firm-fixed-price

Q: Which archives or volumes linked to the IMG website should be considered the master for data conversion? Specifically, there appear to be copies in both /archive and /data, and under /data there also appear to be two copies of all of the EDRs: vo1_vo2-m-vis-2-edr-br-v2.0/ and vo1_vo2-m-vis-2-edr-v2.0/

A: Sorry for the confusion. The top /archive and /data point to the exact same files (really just a symbolic link to the same place. And it also appears these two directories (vo1_vo2-m-vis-2-edr-br-v2.0/ and vo1_vo2-m-vis-2-edr-v2.0/) contain the same files. Thus only vo1_vo2-m-vis-2-edr-v2.0/ will need to be migrated.

Q: Do the browse images need to be converted?

A: Yes. It is recommended that PDS4 archives have browse images in simple formats like Jpeg or PNG with simple PDS4 labels. Now if the current browse images are too difficult to convert, new versions can be created from the data files.

Q: The solicitation states that expert knowledge of PDS is required. Does this mean that the contractor is required to have knowledge on NASA's specific PDS? Or, would expert knowledge of similar systems and data standards be sufficient and rated favorably?

A: Given the steep learning curve to create PDS4 archives, experience with the PDS4 information model is highly recommended. There is amble documentation for PDS4, but experience completely a full archive is still preferable.

Q: Is there an anticipated budget for each task or the total contract? If so, could USGS share that information?

A: Any budgetary information is confidential

Q: Is this lowest price technically acceptable or best value trade off?

A: See P. 11 of the originals SF-18

Q: Other than the information conveyed in the solicitation, are there any other tasks or specifics of the work that USGS requires or would like to have done?

A: No. We believe the solicitation is clear on the deliverables, but if there are additional questions, we will be available for consultation.

Q: Can this work be performed remotely/virtually within the US? If not, what is the place of performance?

A: It may be performed remotely within the US https://pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/volumes/viking.html#vkoEDR