SST III Industry Day QandA Final.pdf

Simulation and Software Technologies (SST) III

Questions and Answers - Industry Day

GENERAL QUESTIONS

1. Would we be able to get these slides?

Yes, the slides are available on the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, as well as on https://sam.gov/opp/7403864a5d1341adaec4a1da28c61a6a/view#history.

2. What is meant by the “ultimate completion date” of SST II of 4/30/23?

There are currently 16 one-month options available to exercise on the SST II contract.

The ultimate completion date of 4/30/23 reflects this if all 16 one-month options are exercised. As NASA has more information on the schedule, it will be posted to the SST III website.

3. On the existing contract (SST II) are there fixed options or are they discretionary?

NASA has unilateral discretion to exercise options on SST II. There are 16 one-month fixed options available in the contract and the Government anticipates that it will exercise these options until the SST III competition is completed.

4. Will the Task Orders on SST II be for the entire year of 2022?

Yes.

5. Do you plan to extend SST II contract?

See answer to question 3.

6. Are there any set dates for this procurement?

A preliminary schedule has been posted on the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/. Please monitor the procurement website for updates.

7. Has a determination been made on Full and open competition or Small Business Set-Aside?

Yes, NASA will be competing on a full and open basis.

8. How do you make the choice between going full and open or small business set aside?

NASA conducts market research and works with the JSC Office of Small Business Programs to make this determination.

9. What in your market research efforts led to the decision to have large businesses respond to the solicitation?

As a part of the market research, NASA asked for information in the Request for Information (RFI) for specific company capabilities. This information was analyzed and

SST III

Questions & Answers – Industry Day coordinated with the JSC Office of Small Business Programs. It was determined that this acquisition was not appropriate for a small business set-aside.

10. Based on your Market Research, were there any viable Small Business that responded?

This information is procurement sensitive and cannot be released. A listing of interested parties can be found on the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/..

11. What did your market research find regarding capable primes?

See answer to question 10.

12. How many bidders do you think you are going to get?

The Government is unable to determine how many companies will bid as this is an internal company decision.

13. Will you provide an update to the interested parties list?

Yes, NASA will update this list on the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/.

14. What small business goals do you envision for this procurement?

This information is procurement sensitive and will not be released until the Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP)/Request for Proposal (RFP). Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

15. Would the market research influence your small business participation goal?

Market research is utilized in the establishment of small business goals.

16. Is there any mentor-protégé on the SST II contract or at JSC? We would encourage a program to be developed for SST III.

No, there is no mentor-protégé program for the SST II contract. This is the website with information about the NASA OSBP – Mentor-Protégé Program for you to reference https://www.nasa.gov/osbp/mentor-protege-program.

17. Is it realistic that the DRFP will be released at the end of August?

A preliminary schedule has been posted on the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/. Please monitor Check the procurement website for updates.

18. Do you foresee any additional RFI from now until the release of the DRFP in August?

See answer to question 6.

19. How much time will be allotted for proposal submission?

An official timeframe has not been established but will be included in the DRFP.

20. Will we have an opportunity to setup meetings with the technical point of contacts to discuss requirements further?

Yes, there is an opportunity for future meetings with the technical team. Meetings will be conducted via Microsoft Teams and will not exceed 60 minutes. Participation is limited to six (6) individuals from each company/team and one session per company/team. Please email jsc-cr-sstiii@mail.nasa.gov if interested.

21. It is critically important for outside bidders to develop an understanding of ER’s current aspirations, challenges, and desires that generally cannot be fully described in a solicitation. To increase competition and ideas for innovations, how can we best have back-and-forth dialogue with NASA technical personnel around needs and potential solutions?

NASA can setup a meeting with the technical team to facilitate this discussion. Refer to Question 20.

22. Do you anticipate the same users for SST III as SST II?

Yes, we anticipate the same users for SST III. Note: SST III is anticipated to be made available to perform work for other Centers and other entities. However, SST III is not anticipated to be an “Agency” contract in that other Centers would be mandated to utilize to meet requirements.

23. How do you see the division of work regarding the overlap of JETS and SST II?

There is no skill overlap between JETS and SST III. SST III contains very highly specialized software and simulation activities.

24. Where do you see SST III moving over the course of its lifetime in consideration of the commercialization of the space environment?

The anticipated IDIQ nature of the SST III contract will provide flexibility to support the commercialization of the space environment.

25. Last time Mission Suitability was 250-page count which puts a lot of impact for us to learn. Do you foresee that same approach?

This determination has not been made yet since NASA is still in the planning phases of drafting the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website for updates.

26. Will there be evaluation criteria or incentives to the prime Contractor to include unknown to JSC or nontraditional suppliers or subcontractors in the solicitation?

This information is procurement sensitive and will not be released until the DRFP/Final RFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

27. Does the Government plan to include other evaluation criteria to encourage non-incumbent bidders in this procurement?

See answer to Question 26.

28. Very limited competition last time, what are we going to do to promote competition?

The Government’s intent is to promote as much competition as possible. To promote competition, the TRICK software is now open source, https://sam.gov/opp/d98cd36195d040efb7d064a299d4039a/view. At the time SST II was competed, it was not open source. Refer to the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for the most up to date information regarding the

DRFP.

29. We anticipate a high percentage of incumbent personnel capture. When bids are intended to protect incumbent Contractor employees from salary reductions, the bidder’s wrap rates then become a cost discriminator. Can you discuss how NASA will evaluate best value based on maintaining incumbent employee salary rates and the bidders’ overall wrap rate?

See answer to Question 26. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

30. Will a past performance volume be required for SST III?

https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for details.

31. For someone that is new, how do we navigate responding to the solicitation with no past performance?

That would be up to your individual business strategy in responding to the Request for Proposal (RFP). NASA JSC Small Business Specialists, Monica Craft or Tumarrow Romain, are available to answer questions related to small business efforts.

32. Are Joint Ventures allowed such that all partners can provide Past Performances?

See answer Question 26, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

33. Are there any deterrents or negatives for submitting a JV bid?

A company’s structure is a business decision each offeror makes within their business strategy for responding to the RFP. NASA JSC Small Business Specialists, Monica Craft or Tumarrow Romain, are available to answer questions related to small business efforts.

34. Is the RFI the extent of the market research or do you look at things like CPARS?

NASA looks at a variety of resources for market research.

35. Last SST II it required 3 years past performance. Are you going to consider going 5 years for SST III?

36. What is the minimum past performance threshold for a contract with small businesses?

37. Is the pre-proposal conference between the DRFP and the final RFP or after the final RFP?

The pre-proposal conference will be conducted after the final RFP.

38. What is the thought behind having the pre-proposal conference after the release of the final RFP as opposed to the DRFP?

The DRFP is issued to provide interested parties the opportunity to provide the Government it’s thoughts or concerns with the proposed solicitation. The input from interested parties is used to finalize the procurement strategy and ultimately the RFP.

The purpose of the pre-proposal conference is to highlight areas of interest related to the RFP, including items such as changes from the current contract, other technical aspects of the Statement of Work (SOW), contract type, selection criteria, small business goals, potential labor relations, safety, or property issues, RFP submission requirements, and pricing related issues. It also enables a time for a site visit (if applicable), and a question and answer session.

39. Will the Government include a tour of the facilities as part of the Pre-Proposal conference?

We intent to use virtual tours of the facilities. More information will be provided during the release of the DRFP.

40. Will a technical eLibrary be provided and when?

Yes, it will be provided prior to the release of the DRFP.

41. Will external interfaces be provided as part of the technical library or the DRFP?

Yes, these will be part of the technical library.

42. Will the DRFP provide a list of DRD’s?

Yes, that is the intent.

43. When will a revised SOW be available?

A draft SOW will be available when NASA releases the DRFP.

44. Do you anticipate the SOW to look the same as SST II?

In the current DRFP, the SST III SOW looks similar to SST II SOW.

45. Can you provide information on the draft SOW elements and the percentage of work across the elements?

drafting the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website for updates.

46. What is the current FTE on SST II?

The Government will not provide FTE information on the current SST II.

47. Will you provide FTE by division?

For the overall contract, the Government will be providing Specified Resources (Hours) that all Offerors will be required to bid to. The hours will be broken down by contract year and by skill mix.

However, for each of the Sample Task Orders (STOs), the Government will be providing only a Government Resource Estimate (GRE) of the total number of WYEs necessary to perform each individual STO. Skill mix will not be provided. Offerors will be required to support their STO estimates based on their specific management and technical approach. Simply regurgitating the Government provided GRE will not be sufficient.

48. Will the Government be providing the ranges of incumbent salaries?

This information will be included in the technical library which will be released prior to the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

49. Would you consider publishing average labor rates for the incumbent labor categories to make this competition more focused on management approach versus cost?

NASA intends to post weighted average Historical Incumbent Labor Rate information mapped to the SST III NASA Standard Labor Categories (SLCs).

50. In the last RFP for SST II, there was information on staffing and SLCs. Will the same be included for SST III?

This information is procurement sensitive and will not be released until the DRFP/Final RFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for

51. For SST II, what are the most critical in demand skills?

A variety of skills are critical to successful completion of the SST II requirements. SST II efforts include programing, engineering, software development, simulation modeling, project management, and SE&I (Systems Engineering and Integration) skills.

52. Is keeping the work force that is there now a high priority?

Information regarding specific skills required will be included in the DRFP and if there are any questions, you can submit them to the SST III email inbox, jsc-cr-sstiii@mail.nasa.gov, although workforce hiring and incumbent capture efforts are business decisions each offeror must make in responding to the RFP.

53. Do you see the skills that the current workforce has as something that is learnable?

How difficult do you see filling those positions would be?

See answer for Question 52.

54. Do you foresee requiring key people on SST III?

Information on whether or not key personnel will be required on SST III will be provided in the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website,

55. Can you share any insights for phase-in?

NASA does not have anything at this time but will address Phase in in the DRFP.

56. Do you have any examples of a bad phase-in?

57. The Government Phase-in plan will document items deemed important for a good phase-in.Will the phase-in plan be evaluated separately?

See answer to Question 50. Continue to monitor the SST III website,

58. Will there be sample Task Orders included in the RFP?

See answer to Question 50. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

59. On the previous RFP, the sample Task Orders were not friendly to the non-incumbent. Are the Task Orders going to be more generic and not require experience with one-of-a-kind tools or laboratories on the upcoming RFP?

The evaluation criterion for this competitive procurement is under development since NASA is still in the planning phases of drafting the DRFP. Industry will have the opportunity upon issuance of the DRPF to provide comments on the solicitation.

Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for

60. Are there ID/IQ Task Orders anticipated after award?

Yes, IDIQ Task Order are anticipated after award.

61. Is the contract set up with multiple Task Orders?

NASA cannot provide information for SST III at this time. SST II is comprised of multiple Task Orders.

62. For SST II, do you have more long-term or short-term requirements?

The Task Orders under SST II are typically one-year Task Orders. Some Task Orders provide support to a specific group for a specific set of services that are repeated from year to year. Occasionally, a shorter task order may be issued. A sample of this year’s Task Orders will be provided in the Technical Library prior to DRFP release.

63. The technical approach appears to be agile; can you speak to that?

Under SST II, NASA has some tasks that utilize an Agile approach and some use more traditional waterfall. It does vary by the task. Some of the older projects use the waterfall and most of the newer ones use Agile.

64. Does the Contractor provide on-call resources that align with mission activities or is that handled by the Government personnel?

Under SST II, those items are addressed in the individual Task Orders within the scope of the SST II SOW. SST II FY21 Task Orders will be provided in the Technical Library.

65. Would the Government consider execution of IDIQ Task Orders to provide something specific for a specified period to allow surge on resources rather than have those employees full-time?

Thank you for your input. The Government will take your input into consideration in development of its requirements.

66. Would the Government be considering on SST III potentially having specific project

Task Orders for business intel discovery for new technology then bring it into the customer?

See answer to Question 65.

67. Can the Government speak to how effective telework has been for this requirement during the pandemic and whether the Government anticipates a significant amount of telework for SST III?

For SST II, we have been able to continue work in a telework environment. NASA follows the JSC and WSTF COVID-19 Guidance for this direction. JSC telework/remote work policy is in work and will apply to SST III. See response to question 68 for information about the current framework.

68. Is the Government going to accommodate remote delivery for some of these specific products or is remote delivery COVID rule dependent?

NASA follows the JSC and WSTF COVID-19 Guidance for this direction. Currently, within this guidance there is a framework with stages. At the time of this posting, NASA

Johnson Space Center is at a stage two. During stage two, employees who must be on-site to perform their work may return on-site with center/supervisor approval. All other employees will continue to telework and mission critical visitors only with approval.

Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates. Current stages of all NASA centers can be monitored on the NASA Coronavirus Response Information website, http://nasapeople.nasa.gov/coronavirus.

69. The technical overview slides did not mention cybersecurity. Will adding elements for that be a core difference between SSTII and SST III? Is cyber security going to be added to the SOW for SST III?

Under SST II, Information Technology (IT) Security is addressed in the IT Security Management Plan. For SST III, this determination has not been made yet since NASA is still in the planning phases of drafting the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

70. Will bidders need to be appraised at a certain CMMI Dev level?

For SST II this is not required, but under current operating procedures, if a contractor does not have a CMMI Level 3 certification, then the contactor must follow the Spacecraft Software Engineering Team (SSET) processes. For SST III, this determination has not been made yet since NASA is still in the planning phases of drafting the DRFP.

Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

71. Is Model Based System Engineering being used?

For SST II, yes, model-based system engineering is used on a few projects, but in a very limited way.

72. Is there modeling that you recommend we look at for the procurement?

Recommend monitoring our SST III website technical library, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, and SAM.gov for additional information.

73. You mentioned in the presentation that there was interest in exploring other 3D gaming engines vs. proprietary Doug engines. Can you elaborate on where that interest is coming from? Are there limitations with what you have now and what kind of use cases are you thinking about?

Under the SST II contract, NASA currently supports some of our exploration activities with various gaming engines. NASA has been looking at UNITY and looking at UNREAL as part of our existing work under SST II.

74. What kind of modeling are you doing with UNREAL or UNITY?

Primarily focused on lunar activities.

75. How does the ER division interface with some of these other organizations such as EG and EP divisions in providing certain services or products? Specifically, how does the ER division delineate those responsibilities from those divisions and even other program organizations?

The list of divisions and specific branches in the Industry Day presentation chart was a representation of all current SST II Task Orders. Task Order work is done within the relevant division. The processing of the Task Orders is through the Contracting Officer and Contracting Officer Representative..

76. As the ER division continues to provide more products and services to some of these exploration programs like HLS and Gateway, can you expand or elaborate on what some of those future technologies and capabilities may be? Where do you foresee some of these new technologies evolving to support some of the advanced exploration programs?

ER is currently supporting conceptual Lunar lander and surface mobility for the Human Exploration Organization. ER will be poised to support future technologies or capabilities.

77. When the last RFI was released, you had the question about new technology and bringing new suppliers and subcontractor into the organization, what is the overarching goal in increasing that supply chain for the organization?

NASA was trying to poll the industry to understand what opportunities there are for teaming and subcontracting. The intent was to garner ideas from Industry about how to expand the options within our supply chain to foster competitive innovation and the resulting technological advancements and pricing efficiencies.

78. Can you expand on the new technology referenced in the RFI?

See answer to Question 77.

79. In the RFI, were you looking at ways broaden the contracting teams that bid on the SST III or were you looking for something during execution of the contract that would be more about getting new technologies into the work that we are doing or incentivize the Contractor to bring new ideas in?

See answer to Question 77.

80. How do you get small companies and new technologies into NASA? Was there information in the RFI provided that showed a way to do this?

See answer to Question 77.

81. Can you share what the motivation for including the nontraditional types of companies being mentioned in the RFI?

See answer to Question 77.

82. Does the SST III Contractor have a role in emerging technology identification and infusion? Is it part of the scope for the SST III Contractor to advise NASA or evaluation AOAs for those sorts of technologies?

This information is procurement sensitive and any information related to the Contractor’s role in emerging technology identification and infusion will not be released until the

DRFP/Final RFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website,

83. As other programs continue to advance, do you foresee your organization needing to fulfill any new requirements for simulation technologies?

The SST III contract will be structured to be able to support any new requirements that may arise.

84. When you were doing the analysis for the headsets for the Virtual Reality (VR) lab, was that an analysis of alternatives type of activity where several options were selected and compared against a set of criteria and then a recommendation was made at the end of the day?

Multiple headsets were investigated and continue to be investigated, including but not limited to Oculus, HTC, Pico, and Varjo.

85. Would there be some value to bring research that is out there that is either being conducted or has been conducted to ER’s organization to evaluate and determine if there is anything of value and then communicate with ER’s customers to see if there is a solution to meeting their needs with a technology that they didn’t know was available.

Any research opportunities must be relevant to the SOW and within the scope of the contract’s requirements.

86. What is your vision and view for cloud computing in ER? Are there plans for transitioning in the future?

There is a pilot effort under SST II to learn about cloud computing. As for transitioning in the future, NASA is still in the planning phases for this effort so continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

87. Is there value in moving cloud computing or is what you have now works and don’t want to change?

See answer to Question 86.

88. For the one project that utilizes cloud computing, do you have it set up on the JSC cloud environment?

Yes, for the SST II project, it is hosted on JSC cloud environment.

89. Is the advanced robotics hardware and dynamic test systems work continuing on

SST III?

drafting the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website,

90. Will the US Space Force work continue? If so, is there any consideration for a classified component that would require security clearances?

91. This determination has not been made yet since NASA is still in the planning phases of drafting the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.What is the best that thing we can do to get involved to do business with NASA on the Virtual Reality and simulation aspects of the contract?

That will be an individual company strategy. NASA JSC Small Business Specialists, Monica Craft or Tumarrow Romain, are available to answer questions related to small business efforts.

92. What is the DOUG based VR training?

The graphics renderer used for VR training is DOUG which stands for Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphics.

93. Do you have interest in utilizing haptic feedback?

NASA is interested in tools and capabilities that provide a more immersive VR training environment within the limitation of the contract’s SOW and within the scope of the contract’s requirements.

94. You mentioned SST II, so there has already been one contract completed where there has been VR technologies already created. Did SST II start something that you are trying to finish with SST III?

Yes.

95. Can you discuss what simulation capabilities or technologies, if any, NASA is most interested in for collaboration with Department of Defense (DoD)? And, in what areas has NASA and DoD collaborated in the past?

There are no specific simulation capabilities or technologies NASA is most interested in collaborating with DoD. Collaboration with DoD under SST II has been with Trick-based simulations.

96. For the products that you delivered to DoD, is it General-Use Nodal Network Solver (GUNNS) trick?

Yes.

97. Software and simulation technologies continue to develop at a rapid pace. How will the solicitation request and recognize innovations?

Specific details on the RFP are procurement sensitive and will not be released until the DRFP/RFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website,

98. Work scope on this contract includes full life cycle performance for flight software.

Can NASA explain how this is integrated with the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMS) flight software activities such as Orion, Lockheed Martin, HLS and SpaceX vehicles? How is that integrated to those OEMS?

On SST II, our flight software projects are separate and distinct activities with separate project managers and processes. On these projects, NASA develops GFE software and delivers it to the prime contractor for integration on the vehicle.

99. Is the work really far in advance of when the OEMS are starting to develop their stuff so that you can do some of the early concept development activities? What is the purpose of the flight software?

Assumed a follow-on to question 98. The work is not in advance of the vehicle prime contract production. The efforts are worked in parallel.

100. Does “that” give you a separate independent test capability?

Not necessarily under SST II. Some projects will have their own test capability. NASA maintains our own test facility.

101. How do we integrate the work that the engineering directorate does with the

OEMS?

The SST II contract does not integrate the flight software. The vehicle prime contractor is responsible for integration.

102. Is JSC moving any toward the core flight software system that HQs and Goddard tend to be pushing now for some of the new programs?

The SST III contract will delineate any requirements for the new programs.

103. Do you see the value in Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) to extend the current capabilities game engineering architecture?

Yes, in general, NASA is interested in COTS tools if they meet the requirements of a contract’s SOW. Specific details on COTS will be contained in the DRFP/RFP.

104. Regarding the VR aspect, is there an option to going to mixed reality?

Generally speaking, NASA is interested in all immersive technologies within the limits of contract’s SOW.

105. Things are moving more commercial; would the Contractor for SST III be involved in customer outreach for the purpose of finding potential new sources for funding?

NASA is still in the planning phases of drafting the DRFP/RFP requirements. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

106. Under SST II have you looked at core flight technology?

Yes, NASA uses Core Flight Software (CFS).

107. Is it under your department for the Orion back up flight software?

Yes.

108. What new innovations are you looking to incorporate into SST II?

NASA is looking for new ways to make us more efficient within the context of contract’s

SOW.

109. What are some other applications that you are developing flight software for?

Under SST II, NASA has multiple programs that provide solutions to including, Orion and Gateway.

110. Where do you draw the line between the prime Contractor and the flight software that SST II is providing?

Under SST II, the NASA line organization project manager negotiates with the Program to provide specific functionality. The NASA line organization project manager develops a project to meet the contract’s SOW and then after new development and conformance with applicable standards, the functionality is delivered to the program on the agreed-to schedule.

111. Are you able to talk about how commercial and international partners impact support to SSTII with regards to programs?

Yes, NASA line organization works with the program office to setup agreements on how everyone can work together to accomplish the needs of both partners.

112. Is there much interface between the SST II team and those partners or does it all run through the program office?

The program office decides how the support organizations work with international partners.

113. We currently provide outreach for customer to get into the simulation facilities utilized by other customers. Do you foresee the Contractor in getting involved in this kind of business development activities?

This determination has not been made yet since NASA is still in the planning phases of drafting the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

114. Will NASA be providing all the seats for employees onsite for SST III?

This determination has not been made yet since NASA is still in the planning phases of drafting the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

115. How do you determine limitations for Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI)?

In accordance with the applicable laws and regulations.

116. Do you see any OCI issues with working on JETS and potentially the successful bidder on SST III?

An answer cannot be provided at this time. Individual analysis is made based on the specific details submitted in a company’s OCI mitigation plan.

117. Will there be Immersive technology going forward?

Under the SSTII contract, the focus on VR is an immersive environment. The SST III contract is a follow-on contract intended to provide a seamless transition from the SST II scope of work.

118. All regulations that apply to data as well as any of the applications will all be under the same umbrella?

This question is unclear. Further information about this procurement will be in the DRFP.

119. Is there any aspect where there will be tighter security control?

120. Is there a need for Core-Flight software?

Under SST II, NASA is working with Core-Flight software. This determination has not been made yet for SST III since NASA is still in the planning phases of drafting the DRFP. Continue to monitor the SST III website, https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/sst/, for updates.

121. Is the Guidance, Navigation & Control work now interdivisional or just directly with EG?

All the work on SST II is coordinated through the Contracting Officer Representative and managed by the Task Manager who created the Task Order.

122. Regarding safety classification for the software subsystems, can you tell us what the safety classifications are on SST II?

SST II follows NASA Procedural Requirements 7150.2.

123. What program languages is the current software written in?

Primarily, program languages are in C and C++.

124. Will you provide a list versus the class A versus the class C?

No, however please review FY21 Task Orders in the technical library to glean software requirements previously utilized.

125. Can you let us know what software development methodologies are on SST II?

SST II uses a combination. There are some older projects that are still in waterfall. Most of the new projects are moving toward Agile.

126. For SST III, are you looking to change any software development?

127. Do you have a specific development tools that are used for software development?

NASA does not have a single set of development tools that are used for all software development.

128. Do we expect to get a list of COTS used in the software in the DRFP?

No, we will not provide a comprehensive list of all COTS software and tools used to support SST II, and consequently, SST III. The usage of COTS software and tools is not static, nor is it a specific requirement.

129. Is there a standard rhythm to the software releases?

Under SST II, each project has their own release schedule based on program schedules and needs.

130. What are the tool sets that go along with those?

Under SST II, some projects are using Jenkins, JIRA, and git lab for configuration management and issue tracking.

131. Can you describe how your track software defects and what support the Contractor needs to provide?

Each TO designates what work the Contractor needs to do for issue tracking.

132. Does the Contractor provide administration and development of IT infrastructure in either the development or the operations integration for some of the labs?

Each TO designates what work the Contractor needs to do for lab infrastructure. Refer to the Technical Library for examples of SST II FY21 Task Orders..

133. Is that mostly for the development environment or is there operational systems or do you deliver the software to the end user and then they run in on their own infrastructure?

The SST II contract only addresses software development in software development environments. Currently, the software developed is handed over to other organizations for usage in operational environments.

134. What platform infrastructure is the software designed to run on?

For SST II, a variety of platform infrastructure is currently used. Development is generally done on Linux or Windows platforms. Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS) are generally used for the deployed platform (e.g. VxWorks). One current project uses cloud-based technology.

135. Are the uses of the software for training or are they used real time on the space craft for operations?

Software products are developed for both training and spacecraft systems.