BH5-19-003_JSC_EVVA_Helmet_JOFOC_Final3.pdf

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA)

LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (JOFOC)

For the 80JSC019EVVA/Helmet, Neck Ring and Extravehicular Visor Assembly (EVVA)

1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.303-2(b)(2) – The nature and/or description of the action being approved: This justification provides the rationale for contracting by other than full and open competition with Airlock, Inc. (Airlock) to provide an EVVA to support the Pressure Garment System (PGS) for the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU).

This is a continuation of a design created for the prototype PGS Z-2.5 which was the proving ground to move to the Design Verification Test (DVT) phase.

2. FAR 6.303-2(b)(3) – A description of the supplies or services required, to meet the Agency’s needs (including the estimated value): The helmet assembly is an integral part of the space suit pressure vessel. It is a “Criticality-1” piece of safety hardware, which means failure to meet its requirements, will result in catastrophic consequences, such as losing a crew member or the space suit hardware. The requirement includes design and production, inclusive of updates made to testing and facility equipment, analysis tools and the labor necessary to advance prototype testing and product refinement of the DVT cycle.

The acquisition of the helmet assembly is estimated at $6.41 million which is inclusive of the protective visor and neck rings with a delivery date for DVT hardware of 14 months from award and qualification of flight hardware the following year after delivery of the DVT hardware.

3. FAR 6.303-2(b)(4) – An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition for this action is 10 United States Code 2304(c)(1) and FAR 6.302- 1(a)(2)(ii)(A). FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii)(A) states, “supplies may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of a follow-on contract for the continued development or production of a major system or highly specialized equipment, including major components thereof, when it is likely that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.”

4. FAR 6.303-2(b)(5)and(9) – A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited and any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition such as:

AirLock has proven to be the only vendor with the ability to manufacture the hemi-ellipsoid shaped helmet and EVVA to meet the requirements for building the required DVT units. They have developed a proprietary polymer forming process to form optically clear, tight-tolerance, and highly complex helmet shapes from ultra-clear polycarbonate and polysulfone material.

Airlock’s proprietary polymer forming process dates back from the Apollo spacesuit era and it has continued to be used to manufacture and deliver flight helmets and EVVAs for the EMU space suit currently used on the

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International Space Station. Any other manufacturer would have to redesign the entire helmet architecture and would not be able to empirically build upon previous prototypes. It is a very difficult process to form polycarbonate from a flat sheet to a complex hemi-ellipsoid shape while maintaining extremely high optical quality free of visible striae, cloudiness, waviness, pits, bubbles, scratches, foreign particles, and inclusions. Any imperfection developed must not exceed .03 inches, and the transmission through both the protective visor and helmet after being formed must exceed 70 percent of the visible light spectrum. The tolerance of each piece of formed polycarbonate must be exact to +/- .01 inches, and in some cases to +/-.005 of an inch. Airlock utilizes the same polycarbonate forming process that has consistently produced helmets and EVVAs for NASA space suits since the 1960s which continue to be delivered as part of the EMU Helmet and EVVAs for current flights.

Selection of a different EVVA manufacturer would require additional time resulting in significant cost increases to try and reach the same level of product maturity currently achieved by Airlock without any guarantee NASA’s requirements will be met.

a. FAR 6.303-2(b)(9) (i) – Explanation of why technical data packages, specifications, engineering description, statements of work, or purchase descriptions suitable for full and open competition have not been developed or are not available: The EVVA Statement of Work is not suitable for full and open competition as it is driven by functional requirements that are necessary to withstand and protect the crew member from the harsh environment of space while maintaining an optically clear, tight-tolerance, and highly complex helmet shapes from ultra-clear polycarbonate and polysulfone material. NASA initially sought competition for the same requirements where Airlock was found to be the only company able to meet them. NASA awarded the initial helmet requirement under previous Purchase Order Number 80JSC018P0040 to Airlock and it is now seeking the continued development of this highly specialized equipment for continued hardware iterations and DVT. It is likely an award to any other source other than Airlock would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition.

b. FAR 6.303-2(b)(9) (ii) – When 6.302-1 is cited for follow on acquisitions as described in 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii), an estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated and how the estimate was derived: NASA’s selection of Airlock to complete the development of the EVVA assemblies through production phases will provide time and cost savings derived from the continuous use of existing polycarbonate forming solutions and the associated overhead of tools, equipment and processes already in place with no additional cost to the current acquisition. As part of this overhead, current molds used to form the xEMU Demo polycarbonate helmet, protective visor, and EVVA visors have already been produced from previous NASA contracts when building the Z-2.5 prototype space suit hardware. Any alternative approach in selecting another manufacturer will require NASA to duplicate time and money to certify another vendor to create a polymer forming process and re-build the quality assurance levels already reached with Airlock when attempting to mimic Airlock’s manufacturing consistency which NASA requires for flight hardware. This alternative approach would have a schedule delay greater than a year, and would be augmented with many additional years required to re-build the confidence that a new process would consistently produce safety

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critical flight hardware. Based on the industrial/manufacturing capabilities currently offered by Airlock, NASA’s independent engineering estimate reflects a minimum of a million dollars would be required to cover cost for a different manufacturer to develop a forming process alone. The assessment accounts for labor hours and facilities needed to establish a similar forming process as offered by Airlock. In addition, an alternate manufacturer would require additional time to redevelop processes to understand how to best apply coatings that would meet NASA’s visibility requirements. Therefore, using an alternate vendor would cause a delay at a minimum of 3 years for DVT deliverables, and 5 years for the qualification and flight hardware, resulting in significant impact to the program schedule. NASA’s xEMU Demo schedule for delivering flight hardware by 2023 is aggressive, and any manufacturing delay to obtain the helmet and EVVA would cause serious time delays to execute the goals of NASA’s program. The xEMU Demo program cannot complete any PGS testing without the helmet hardware as it is an integral part of the pressure vessel and any delays will add significant risks to the feasibility of the garment system and NASA’s space exploration goals.

c. FAR 6.303-2(b)(9)(iii) – When 6.302-2 is cited, data, estimated cost, or other rationale as to the extent and nature of the harm to the Government: FAR part 6.302-2 is not cited and not applicable.

5. FAR 6.303-2(b)(6) – A description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

Pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 (d)(2), this action was synopsized. A notice was published on the Government Wide Point of Entry, located at www.FedBizOpps.gov under 80JSC019EVVA as required by FAR 5.201. The synopsis was posted on April 17, 2019, requesting interested organizations to submit their capabilities and qualifications to meet NASA’s requirements. The synopsis closed May 2, 2019, and NASA did not receive a response from any potential source stating interest in fulfilling NASA’s requirements.

6. FAR 6.303-2(b)(7) – A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable: The xEMU EVVA assemblies are commercial items and the contractor’s proposed price will be evaluated and determined fair and reasonable in accordance with the techniques detailed in FAR 15.404-1. Such techniques include comparison of proposed prices to historical prices paid for the same or similar items and comparison of proposed prices with independent Government estimates.

7. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market survey conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons a market survey was not conducted: The EVVA requirements originated from NASA development efforts used to identify any source that may fulfill NASA’s needs. Market research was initially conducted in 2018 to identify a source that could meet NASA’s requirements. As a result, purchase order 80JSC018P0040 was awarded to Airlock under other than full and open competition procedures to manufacture a prototype helmet and EVVA in 2018. These efforts have helped mature the requirements through design, testing, and analysis efforts and have been made part of the commercially available products provided by Airlock. NASA performed additional market research through internet searches. However, no http://www.fedbizopps.gov/

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other visor manufacturing vendor was identified that could produce the assemblies within the required tolerances.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition: No sources responded to synopsis number 80JSC019EVVA.

9. FAR 6.303-2(b)(11) – A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required: NASA is not aware of any other sources interested or capable of performing this work and fulfilling the specified requirements. NASA will continue to assess the marketplace for alternative sources. NASA will continue to compare its requirements with the available capabilities to determine industry’s ability to competitively fulfill the requirements.