COSMOS - Questions and Answers Part 1.pdf

Contract for Organizing Spaceflight Mission Operations and Systems (COSMOS)

Industry Day/Request For Information Questions and Answers – Set 1

April 24,2024

No. Question Answer

1 Is FOD afraid of revolutionary vs evolutionary change?

FOD is ready and open to considering all ideas within the context of still considering crew safety, vehicle safety, mission success, risk, schedule, cost, and other trades.

2 Is the Government open to evolutionary upgrades which would lead to efficiencies?

See Answer No. 1

3 Innovation - are we doing anything firm fixed price today?

Phase-in for MSOC was firm fixed price. The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved for COSMOS. Please continue to monitor https://sam.gov and https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/cosmos/ for updates.

4 What does innovations mean (look like) – process, technical, other

According to the DRAFT DRD-COSMOS-0058 located in SAM.gov, offerors will have the opportunity to, "provide proposed contract language for Efficiencies and Innovative Techniques." The Government encourages offerors to propose innovation solutions that meet requirements in efficient and cost-effective ways. The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved for COSMOS please continue to monitor SAM.gov and the COSMOS website for updates.

5 Is the government considering extending the period of performance?

The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved, therefore we asked for Industry's input on the period of performance through the RFI that closed on March 11. The Government values Industry’s inputs and will review and consider all periods of performance suggested.

6 Is the Government considering a longer period of performance to allow non-incumbents more time to recoup investments?

See Answer No. 5

7 Will we consider a longer period of procurements, more than 5 or 7 years, to make it more open to non-incumbents to also apply?

See Answer No. 5 https://sam.gov/ https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/cosmos/

8 Having longer term job security is important for any contractor's ability to retain contractors and avoid them looking elsewhere and this is highly specialized work that would be hard to replace with brand new people, are you considering that when deciding the period of performance?

See Answer No. 5

9 What is the period of performance and why is it that period versus others?

See Answer No. 5

10 Can the period of performance be at least 2 years past ISS end of life to ensure you are into Artemis and to account for ISS potential extensions to reduce risk?

See Answer No. 5

11 How will potential for ISS pushing out longer be addressed in period of performance?

See Answer No. 5

12 Considering Artemis timeframes are not that soon can a longer period of time than 5 years be considered?

See Answer No. 5

13 Is there a driver motivating a change from a 7.5 year period of performance to a 5 year?

See Answer No. 5

14 Will there be more one on ones with NASA and industry? Not just more companies but can we meet again? How much more and when? Can we meet monthly or more? Can we meet more prior to draft being due?

The Government is considering Industry’s input of conducting additional sessions with industry. Please continue to monitor Sam.gov and the COSMOS website for any updates.

15 Is the government planning to have additional one-on-one sessions with industry?

See Answer No. 14

16 Will there be more opportunities to talk with industry and NASA? Will there be opportunities specifically after the DRDs are released to allow for questions about the DRDs?

See Answer No. 14

17 What is the rough timeline? The Procurement Schedule hasn't been finalized for COSMOS but will be posted to SAM.gov and the COSMOS website and updated as required.

18 Do we expect to meet our timeline? See Answer No. 17

19 Will the Government be able to adhere to the procurement schedule given the end of MSOC?

See Answer No. 17

20 Does the Government anticipate holding Technical Interchanges in the future?

See Answer No. 14

21 Does the Government require a US citizen for the AST position in Russia?

The AST refers to the American Segment Trainer which is a modified Part Task Trainer to support International Partner Training. Citizenship of any person supporting work at international partner sites will be determined based on export control, data handling requirements, and requirements of the host site.

22 For the positions in Russia is that required to be a US citizen?

Citizenship of any person supporting work at international partner sites will be determined based on export control, data handling requirements, and requirements of the host site.

23 Can foreign Nationals do the work in Russia? See Answer No. 22

24 Do we plan to release the scripts for the tours? Yes. The tour scripts will be posted as part of the COSMOS Technical Library. Continue to monitor SAM.gov and the COSMOS website for updates.

25 Will info be made available prior to the procurement with technical details?

Government identified technical documents will be made available in the COSMOS Technical Library prior to Draft Request for Proposal. Please continue to monitor SAM.gov and the COSMOS website for updates.

26 Would details be out before the actual proposals are due?

See Answer No. 25

27 When will the tech library be available to help decide whether to bid?

See Answer No. 25

28 Will the industry day presentation be posted? Industry Day presentation has been posted to SAM.GOV and the link has been posted in the COSMOS website:

https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/cosmos/

29 How will we measure success? The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved for COSMOS.

The Instructions to Offerors and Evaluation Factors for Award will be stated in sections L and M of the DRFP and RFP.

30 Are there areas where things are steady state that could be T&M or fixed price so that we can drive innovation to reduce cost and increase our profits?

The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved for COSMOS.

The Government is reviewing and considering all inputs received from Industry.

31 would you entertain fixed price tasks? See Answer No. 30

32 Is this a large procurement project - do we do a lot of procurement?

The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved for COSMOS and this procurement will request both services and materials.

33 Request to list MOUs & other agreements on where COSMOS responsibilities end.

Published available MOUs will be included in the COSMOS Tech Library prior to Draft Request for Proposal.

34 What is the demarcation in responsibilities between COD and COSMOS??

Within the JSC buildings supported by COSMOS, Center Operations Directorate (COD) is responsible for HVAC, plumbing, and facility electrical power; including building switchgear, motor controllers, lighting, and outlet power. COD is also responsible for backup/emergency power for Building

30. This includes four Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS), two diesel engine-based electrical power generators, and the main distribution panels including the circuit breakers therein.

COSMOS maintains responsibility for routing and distribution of electrical power within the Mission Control Center that supports mission critical operations. This includes 26 Automatic Transfer Switches and 80 Power Distribution Units.

The demarcation point of responsibility in most cases is the equipment downstream of the main distribution panels including the load side cables that terminate on the power distribution panel circuit breakers.

For building 5, no backup power capability is provided. The dual commercial power feeds into Building 5 are managed by transfer switches which are COSMOS-maintained. Additional details are in JSC-27049 MOU and Standard Interface Plan Between COD and MOD (Now FOD).

35 Technical publication - Do we use S1000D? At this time FOD does not use this standard.

36 What type of contract? See Answer No. 30

37 Are you entertaining having fixed price tasks or fixed unit tasks?

See Answer No. 30

38 Is anything firm fixed price today and are you looking to expand that? Both in this contract and in FOD in general?

See Answer No. 30

The MSOC had a firm fixed price phase-in. FOD SEAM and MESC contracts have firm fixed price components.

39 What's the rationale of starting the contract as CPAF with the option to transition to CPFF?

The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved for COSMOS.

40 When do we shutdown conversations? Official Blackout will begin at the release of the Final Request for Proposal.

41 When will tech library be available?

See Answer No. 25

42 Will there be a Technical Library? When will it be released?

See Answer No. 25

43 Can the tech library be published before draft? See Answer No. 25

44 When will we make the final decision? The Procurement Schedule hasn't been finalized for COSMOS.

Please continue to monitor the COSMOS website for any updates: https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/jsc-procurement/cosmos/

45 Will the government allow procurement of fixed price Other Direct Cost (ODC) services, and will it use commercial buys?

See Answer No. 30

46 When is the blackout period? This was a virtual one and one and the company wants to travel to JSC to meet.

Official Blackout will begin at the release of the Final Request for Proposal. The Government is considering Industry’s input of conducting additional sessions with industry. Please continue to monitor Sam.gov and the COSMOS website for any updates.

47 Moving forward will NASA be selecting groups like theirs directly (meaning someone interested in being a sub not a prime) or will they be looking to the prime contractor that is selected to do that coordination?

See Answer No. 30

48 Will NASA still be requesting solicitations directly, or would it go through COSMOS contractor?

See Answer No. 30

49 What Qtr will the Draft RFP be posted? See Answer No. 17

50 Will we keep page counts under 100 pages so that larger businesses don't have an edge applying?

The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved for COSMOS.

The Government is reviewing and considering all inputs received from Industry to ensure a fair and open competition.

51 Can reducing page count be considered to make it more open to non-incumbents to apply?

See Answer No. 50

52 Will you allow for incentivizing structures in the task order process or award fees to somehow incentivize having new ways to do things?

The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved for COSMOS.

The Government is reviewing and considering all inputs received from Industry to ensure a fair and open competition.

53 Will you be careful with the page limits either small or large for DRD responses to avoid favoring or disfavoring incumbents when applying?

See Answer No. 50

54 Can you only take certain pieces of DRDs to help limit page count further?

See Answer No. 50

55 Will we look at limiting how many DRDs are due at proposal?

See Answer No. 50

56 Can DRD complexity, number, and technicality be reduced?

See Answer No. 50

57 For DRD selection will there be room to differentiate companies or just technical knowledge which would favor incumbent?

See Answer No. 50

58 Will management be judged in proposals? See Answer No. 50

59 For costs and price estimating for proposals, will we be allowed to adjust the staffing and skill mixes?

The Procurement Strategy hasn't been approved for COSMOS..

Guidance will be provided in section L&M of the draft RFP.

64 Schedule for turning things around seems really short and we are worried about impacts to the mission are longer schedules being considered?

The Procurement Schedule hasn't been finalized for COSMOS.

68 How will NASA ensure this is possible for all the competition?

See Answer No. 50

69 Will lessons learned and efficiencies from the current contract be opened up to all to review?

The Government will not discuss Incumbent’s performance and Proprietary or confidential business information of incumbent contractor(s) or other business entities.

70 Can cost, performance, and management structure be weighted more heavily in reviews of applicants versus past performance?

See Answer No. 50

71 Can having an adequate accounting system requirement be reduced? We understand the goal is well intentioned but most small businesses typically cannot meet those government standards. Can these requirements be reduced to allow more options for small business involvement?

See Answer No. 50

72 Can the Government require companies to describe their benefits and look at total compensation not just salary such as dental benefits?

See Answer No. 50

Instructions regarding the Total Compensation Plan will be included in Section L of the COSMOS Draft Request for Proposal (DRFP) and the Final Request for Proposal (FRFP).

73 Can you require that sub teams supporting have commensurate employee plans to improve retention and so that the overall team is able to work as one team?

See Answer No. 50

74 Are the DRDs available? Yes. The draft DRDs are currently available on SAM.gov and the COSMOS website.

75 Can some DRDs be submitted post proposal? See Answer No. 50

77 Will government allow procurement of commercial entities?

See Answer No. 50

78 Would you consider things after an award? So, like DRD?

See Answer No. 50

79 Do we know when interested parties list will be posted for primes or subs?

Continue to monitor SAM.gov. and the COSMOS website.

80 Is there a structure to the RFP yet? See Answer No. 50

81 What is the RFP structure, key personnel? See Answer No. 50

82 Will there be cost guidance in the RFP? Yes. Section L and M of the dRFP and Final RFP.

83 Will industry day sign in sheet be made public? The Industry Day sign-in sheet will not be made public. The Government will publish the Interested Parties list to SAM.gov and the COSMOS website.

84 Are all the instructors for training made up of incumbent?

Training under MSOC is performed by a combined Government and Contractor workforce.

85 Is all of Building 5 managed under MSOC? No.

86 Will COSMOS be responsible for construction? No.

87 Are we concerned with going in commercial low earth orbit?

NASA is excited about the activity and interest in low earth orbit and the opportunities and challenges it poses.

88 Who designs the training for the Flight Controllers?

The Government is responsible for creating and approving training required for Flight Controllers.

89 Will the Government allow fixed price procurement of ODC??

As part of the RFI and procurement strategy development we will be evaluating the best contract type to best meet the needs of the government.

91 When will the interested parties list be posted? See Answer No. 83

92 Was MCC made/established prior to President Kennedy?

The Mission Control Center at JSC was established in 1961.

Construction then occurred over several years and it officially opened at JSC in 1965. Before that Mission Control was run out of the Cape at Kennedy starting in 1958 and then began partially transitioning over to JSC through the use of temporary buildings until the new MCC opened. President Kennedy served starting in 1961 and announced the new Mission Control Center. But Mission Control was already established at the point he became president. MCC has been continuously updated in the years since to its current form and has had different names.

93 Will Q&A be published? Yes. Questions and Government responses will be posted to SAM.gov and linked to the COSMOS website.

94 What are our future goals for this contract? Our vision is for FOD to lead humanity in the exploration of the Earth, Moon, and Mars. We will do this in partnership with commercial industry, our international partners, and our NASA programs to accomplish the Agency’s enterprise goals.

The objective of the COSMOS procurement is to identify an industry partner to support the FOD, JSC and agency goals, as a part of a unified team to ensure crew safety, vehicle safety, and mission success. We strive to enable healthy competition and look forward to the innovative ideas this community can offer.

95 Is there a biggest challenge you see that you can share?

The growing interests in space exploration is exciting but having multiple partners with different models for ground systems and mission operations, can pose a challenge integrating and tracking changes to Mission Systems. These efforts will compete for funding and resources with the need to continuously modernize the systems.

96 What are Top 3-5 Goals for COSMOS contract? Maintaining Operations and crew safety.

Being able to develop new capability in cost-effective ways.

Innovative ways to address the work from today to the future.

97 Can a statement of objectives/goals for COSMOS be released to everyone?

The objective of this procurement is to identify a partner in industry to ensure the availability, integrity, reliability, and security of the Flight Operations Directorate's Mission Systems while adding new capabilities and innovations helping further human space exploration.

98 Does MSOC replace SEWP 1 and 2? No

100 What we're looking for in general in a partner? Government is looking for a partner who is focused on FOD, JSC, and agency goals, as part of a unified team to ensure crew safety, vehicle safety, and mission success.

101 Is it allowable to ask what you are looking for in a partner?

See Answer No. 100

102 Are we hearing from your presentations that the scope of work largely does not need to change?

The objective of this procurement is to identify a partner in industry to ensure the availability, integrity, reliability, and security of the Flight Operations Directorate's Mission Systems. We are early in our procurement strategy development and as part of the RFI we are seeking industry inputs for consideration.

103 Sometimes when a contract name changes it can be an indicator so why the name change in this case?

This contract is for a new time period and was given a new name by the new procurement team. The particular name COSMOS was selected as an inspirational space related one we hope will inspire the workforce reminding them they help support Space Exploration. It also is an acronym related to the content of the contract (i.e. the Contract for Organizing Spaceflight Mission Operations and Systems), so that the name is relevant to what it involves.

104 What are types of innovations being looked for? See Answer No. 4

105 The amount of churn and change going on at NASA is astounding have never seen the equivalent in industry how are we addressing this risk?

See Answer No. 50

107 Are we concerned about ISS retirement? The Government is monitoring skill retention and planning for staffing through the end of the ISS Program.

108 How do you measure success and do you have that yet?

We are early in our procurement strategy development. As part of the RFI and procurement process we are looking for industry inputs.

109 How do you measure the success of our goals? See Answer No. 108

110 Are we looking for input on how we measure success?

Yes. Please see the COSMOS Request for Information located on Sam.gov.

117 Can DRDs look for areas of innovation instead of just incumbent knowledge as responses and be judged that way?

See Answer No. 50

118 We have questions about innovations, do you mean process innovations or technical innovations?

FOD is ready and open to considering all ideas within the context of still considering crew safety, vehicle safety, mission success, risk, schedule, cost, and other trades.

119 Are we allowed to suggest/consider higher risk tolerance calculations in terms of innovation?

See Answer No. 118

120 How do we determine acceptable risk tolerance levels in human space flight and where are the lines on areas where there can be more risk considered?

Human safety is our highest priority, then vehicle safety, then mission success. We make engineering/scientific judgement and experience informed risk trades on a case-by-case basis following the standards outlined by all of our safety teams, and mission constraints while using contractor input.

121 Will shared risk in innovation be considered? See Answer No. 50

122 Can you include criteria in the RFP that has innovation and the ability to meet that to make it fair to non-incumbents?

See Answer No. 50

123 Do you think there are more efficient ways of doing things, innovative ways?

See Answer No. 118

124 How will you implement cost savings innovations, and will it make it into RFP?

See Answer No. 50

125 Is NASA open to getting rid of large physical mockups altogether or reducing number and going virtual and using computer-based training instead?

We are open to risk trade discussions case by case especially as technology continues to improve if all training, troubleshooting, and real time support goals can still be met.

141 We are a specialty vendor just looking for how to be visible to primes how can we do that?

Please consider requesting your company be added to the Interested Parties List. Also, reach out to jsc-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov and review the published COSMOS Interested Parties List which will be posted on SAM.gov and the COSMOS website.

142 We recognize the Government does not have a clearly identified or firm acquisition schedule.

However, can you provide your current objectives for the period of time you hope to release any of the following: (1) Technical Documents, (2) the Draft RFP, and (3) Final RFP?

Even a ballpark estimate can greatly help offerors de-conflict potential resources for bid support.

The Procurement Schedule hasn't been finalized for COSMOS but will be posted to SAM.gov and the COSMOS website and updated as required. A very preliminary estimate on schedule can be located on the NASA Acquisition Forecast website.

www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/forecast/NAF.html

143 Based on our review of the current DRD delivery timelines, there are 7 DRDs with due dates immediately after contract award or at phase-in start. These include DRDs 4, 7, 8, 25, 36, 42, and

50. Will the Government consider delaying deadlines until the awardee has had time to identify and begin working with in-place experts during the phase-in process? This would allow your contractor to evaluate existing procedures and update them to reflect best practices to aid in continuity of support.

See Answer No. 50

147 Did not see any cybersecurity in development, is this something we are planning to address in this procurement?

The FOD implementation of the agency software engineering requirements are captured in JSC 63756, FOD Software Management Plan (SMP), and CA-WI-54, FOD Software Standards.

152 Is there staffing pressure from outside of NASA that we've seen that they wouldn't be aware of?

None at this time.

153 On IMOC, employees were getting bored with ISS and wanted to support other programs. Are we concerned about that?

Government is always interested in ensuring workforce engagement at all levels.

154 Do we have concerns about retention due to ISS ending and with staffing changes related to that?

The Government is monitoring skill retention and planning for staffing through the end of the ISS Program and ramp up of future programs.

155 Do you have concerns with employees wanting to leave ISS to work Artemis?

See Answer No. 153

157 Can we ask about required skill sets? Refer to the statement of work, which can be found on Sam.gov and through the link in the COSMOS website.

161 Are you concerned about attrition? The Government is always interested in recruiting and retaining a skilled workforce.

171 For innovation, consider allowing for higher fee, or award fee – something to incentivize innovation?

See Answer No. 50

172 Can DRDs not reference other DRDs to avoid favoring incumbents?

See Answer No. 50

173 Since essentially having the same workforce as today is critical to any offeror it won't be a good discriminator between proposals. Therefore, can mission suitability factors, scheduling, and management be more heavily weighted with management specifically being given the highest weight to make it more fair to non-incumbents to also apply?

See Answer No. 50

174 How do we feel about software development today?

We will not comment on incumbent performance on the current contract but are open to considering all ideas.

242 What can the government do during this procurement to reduce stress for incumbent employees to help improve retention into the next contract?

See Answer No. 50

244 What is the future of SEWP I/II? Is this related?

SEWP I/II is not related to COSMOS. For specific questions on this contract please visit: https://www.sewp.nasa.gov/