J.1.a.1 - ARTS PWS Aug 16 2023.pdf

80ARC024R0001

J.1 (a) Attachment 1

Performance Work Statement for Technical Services for

Aerospace Research Technology and Simulation (ARTS)

05/10/23

J.1(a) Attachment 1

Table of Contents 1 Background

1.1 Simulators/Facilities

1.1.1 Crew-Vehicle Systems Research Facility (CVSRF)

1.1.2 Vertical Motion Simulation Complex (VMSC)

1.1.3 FutureFlight Central (FFC)

1.1.4 ATC Laboratory

1.1.5 Federated Airspace Management Framework (Freddie)

1.1.6 Air Traffic Management TestBed

1.1.7 Sherlock Data Warehouse

1.1.8 WorldWind…

1.2 Environment

2 Scope 3 Objectives 4 Requirements

4.1 Phase-In

4.2 Core Contract Management

4.2.1 Management/Administration

4.2.2 Communication

4.2.3 Procurement

4.2.4 Property Management

4.2.5 Training

4.2.6 Travel

4.2.7 Phase Out

4.3 Core - Technical Services

4.3.1 Technical Direction

4.3.2 Systems Engineering

4.3.3 Software Development

4.3.4 System Administration

4.3.5 Aerospace Engineering and Applications Programming

4.3.6 Graphics Programming

4.3.7 Simulator Hardware and Mechanical Systems Engineering and Operations 17

4.3.8 Safety and Mission Assurance

4.3.9 Configuration Management

4.3.10 Subject Matter Expert Recruitment

4.4 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)

5 Acronyms Exhibit A – Technical Direction Template

J.1(a) Attachment 1

Exhibit B – Langley Research Center Flight Simulation Facilities

1 Background

This Performance Work Statement (PWS) describes the requirements for technical services to support the simulation facilities and the persistent software facilities located at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Flight Simulation Facilities at Langley Research Center (LaRC). The technical services to support the Flight Simulation Facilities at LaRC will be performed under a Task Order under the Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) portion of this PWS (see Section 4.4.2.1 and Exhibit B).

The following ARC simulation facilities will be the assets that the contractor shall be responsible for operating and maintaining in performance of the contract.

1.1 Simulators/Facilities

The NASA ARC simulation facilities, both physical assets and software assets, shall be referred to as the ARTS Facilities, are unique national research and development facilities dedicated to providing researchers with high-fidelity environments to conduct simulated flight and air traffic management (ATM) research and advance the state-of-the-art of simulation technology. Researchers use the facilities to investigate a variety of topics ranging from the design of new aircraft guidance and control systems to the human factors implications of new or existing flight deck displays, airspace operations, air traffic control and automation. Internal projects and experiments are conducted to develop new simulator systems and subsystems, improve simulation systems, develop advanced engineering techniques to improve the fidelity and validity of simulation programs, and incorporate the latest technology into simulation systems.

The ARTS Facilities physical assets currently include the Crew-Vehicle Systems Research Facility (CVSRF), the Vertical Motion Simulation Complex (VMSC), FutureFlight Central (FFC), and the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Lab. The flight simulators support a wide variety of aircraft including helicopters, advanced lift-fan aircraft, jet transports, modern concepts for Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) vehicles, spacecraft, extra-terrestrial landing vehicles, and blimps. The other facilities support Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), including their guidance, control, and mission management, and ATM research in all airspace domains.

The ARTS Facilities software asset is currently managed under the Advanced Airspace Simulation and Management Software Facility. The Aviation Systems Division has developed a software facility of foundational simulation, airspace management, visualization, and data products to support Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s (ARMD) vision for the aviation community today and help prepare for the National Air Space (NAS) transformation in Vision 2045. The facility is managed within the NASA ARC Aviation Systems Division line organization. The technical objectives of the facility are customer-driven as the it exists to meet the needs of NASA stakeholders.

Stakeholders include NASA mission directorates, NASA Centers, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Department of Defense (DoD). This software asset currently includes four products: 1) Federated Airspace Management Framework (Freddie), 2) Air Traffic Management TestBed, 3) Sherlock Data Warehouse, and 4) WorldWind.

The ARTS Facilities are used by NASA programs, other NASA Centers, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), other government organizations, industry, and universities.

1.1.1 Crew-Vehicle Systems Research Facility (CVSRF)

• Advanced Concepts Flight Simulator (ACFS)

The CVSRF is used for research into human factors for flight crews and for passengers’ ride qualities, to formulate principles and design criteria for future aviation tools, to evaluate new ATC procedures, to develop and evaluate air/ground and cockpit-based automation.

1.1.2 Vertical Motion Simulation Complex (VMSC)

• Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS)

• Interchangeable Cab 1 (I-Cab1) fixed-base area

• Interchangeable Cab 2 (I-Cab2) fixed-base area

• Mechanical and Electronic Maintenance Shops

The VMS with its large amplitude motion system provides piloted, real-time flight simulation of proposed and existing vehicles. The dynamic and flexible research environment lends itself to simulation studies involving controls, guidance, displays, automation, handling qualities, flight deck systems, and accident/incident investigations.

The facility is often used to examine new guidance and control law algorithms and to evaluate handling qualities and characteristics. The VMS, besides the large motion capability, has other laboratories for the development and testing of simulations, and for fixed base experiments. The VMS has five (5) interchangeable cabs, which can be configured to support specific simulation requirements. Work is in progress to transition to a dome display system with interchangeable flight decks replacing the cabs.

1.1.3 FutureFlight Central (FFC)

• ATC Tower Simulator

• Mini-tower research station

• Pseudo-pilot stations

• Simulation control and data collection station

FFC is a full-scale ATC tower simulation facility used to test and evaluate airport design and operational issues, and advanced surface automation tools. The facility features a 360-degree immersive visual environment. As an ATC tower simulator, FFC allows stakeholders such as the FAA, controllers, pilots, airports, and airlines to develop and test advanced surface and terminal area concepts and automation. FFC supports human factors research within airport towers between tower controllers and pilots, tower, and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) controllers, and can simulate NextGen, advanced automation concepts and tools. FFC is also used to test airport procedural changes, improve airport ramp operations, optimize taxi routes, and study the integration of new technologies to improve airport surface management and operations.

FFC has an extensive video streaming capability, which combined with the 3-D database capability makes the facility ideal for supporting research needing immersive virtual and/or video environments. For example, FFC has been used as a real time visualization tool for remote robotics field-testing.

1.1.4 ATC Laboratory

• ATC Laboratory

• Eleven (11) Controller stations simulating enroute and TRACON displays, including three FAA Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) displays

• Pseudo-pilot stations for controlling multiple or single aircraft

• Simulation control and data collection stations

The ATC Laboratory is a self-contained research and development facility that supports air traffic controllers, pseudo pilots, and auxiliary systems for simulation of any airborne ATM domain. The facility can be interconnected with other ARTS facilities to support cross-domain or air/ground integration research projects.

1.1.5 Federated Airspace Management Framework (Freddie)

Freddie is a NASA software implementation of an advanced, collaborative, and automated approach to managing the airspace. Freddie evolved from initial NASA research on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) approaches to manage small UAS flying below 400 feet above ground level (AGL). It is a federated system because it does not rely on a central authority to manage the airspace. The responsibilities are assigned to entities to manage the airspace in a collaborative manner through the digital sharing of relevant data via established protocols for such exchanges.

Freddie’s software development helps stakeholders continue to mature UTM concepts and apply them to new aviation domains even beyond the small UAS, low-altitude domain such as Urban Air Mobility (UAM), High-E Airspace Traffic management (ETM), and Space Traffic management (STM).

1.1.6 Air Traffic Management TestBed

TestBed is a highly scalable simulation and modeling platform to evaluate current and emerging vehicles and airspace management technologies that reduces the time to test concepts, technologies, and their interactions, interoperability, and integration. It helps ARMD explore autonomy architectures, concepts, and technologies – to scale future operations and deliver performance requirements. Testbed supports how large-scale and local disruptions could be managed elegantly and allow researchers to explore “digital twin” concepts of the NAS that leverages the impending digital transformation and allow NASA and other stakeholder to perform what-if simulations.

1.1.7 Sherlock Data Warehouse (Sherlock)

Sherlock is an enterprise platform for reliable NAS-wide ATM data collection, processing, archival, and delivery leveraging structured Big Data technologies and a tool suite for machine learning and data science. The data includes years of flight, weather, traffic management and facility report data across vast array of NAS operations collected through FAA System Wide Information Management (SWIM) and other sources.

1.1.8 WorldWind

WorldWind is a NASA-developed, publicly available, highly scalable open-source software development kit (SDK) for assisting developers in the creation of geographical information systems (GISs). The WorldWind SDK is a powerful tool used by software engineers to build their own GIS applications. WorldWind is used to integrate, analyze, and display a wide range of airspace, surveillance, weather, and other ATM data.

1.2 Environment

The ARTS facilities are highly configurable, highly customizable, high fidelity research environments supporting research with rapidly changing requirements and priorities, and challenging schedules. The simulation environment consists of:

• Tightly coupled hard real-time simulations and widely distributed soft real-time simulations.

• Simulation software and hardware which includes vendor supplied proprietary black box software and hardware, NASA/ARTS developed software and hardware, open-source applications, and externally sourced but internally modified and maintained software and hardware. Each item is obtained from NASA or other government agencies, outside vendors, government contractors, and industry and academic partners.

The experimental nature of the ARTS facilities’ work requires the continuous upgrading of the facilities’ hardware and software capabilities, the integration of developmental systems and technology, and the advancement of the state-of-the-art in simulation technology.

The NASA ARC ARTS Facilities are currently managed through civil service line managers, who, in conjunction with the contractor, are responsible for the successful performance of the mission of each facility.

2 Scope

The contractor shall provide all labor, and services unless otherwise provided in the Contract Documents for the completion of the Performance Work Statement. Specifically, the contractor shall prepare, develop, operate, and maintain the existing simulators, integration laboratories, aircraft research systems, and any future simulators, integration laboratories, simulation work areas, and aircraft research systems in the ARTS Facilities at ARC, as well as development, test, and validation of advanced ATM automation tools, including, but not limited to advanced concepts for aviation ecosystems being developed at ARC. In addition, the contractor will be required to provide subject matter expert and experiment participant recruiting services.

3 Objectives

The objectives of this contract are:

3.1 To ensure the safety, quality, integrity, and maintenance of simulators, facilities, hardware, and software, while minimizing downtime. Compliance with all safety testing, and adherence to procedures and regulations concerning maintenance and operations of ARTS facilities, including safety critical software, hazardous material, and personal safety standards, is required.

3.2 To support the design, development, integration, testing, validation, and execution of experiments, and produce required simulation project management and experiment documentation and deliverables including participant evaluations, research data, and other deliverables as specified by customer requirements and facilities-developed procedures. Individual subsystems and integrated simulations must perform according to specifications and research requirements.

3.3 To complete discrete projects as authorized by NASA through technical direction (TD) and/or task orders. Some projects are aimed at improving or adding new capabilities to the simulation laboratories or facilities. ARTS also supports other NASA and external customer projects that can leverage its expertise but may not use the simulation facilities.

3.4 To support ATM customers by designing, developing, integrating, testing, validating, and maintaining ATM simulation tools, simulating ATM concepts and automation, and producing the required project management, experiment documentation, and other deliverables including participant evaluations, research data, as specified by customer requirements and ARTS facilities-developed procedures.

4 Requirements

The contract requirements consist of Phase-In, Section 4.1; Core Contract Management, Section 4.2; Core Technical Services, Section 4.3; and Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity, Section 4.4.

4.1 Phase-In

The Contractor shall complete phase-in activities in accordance with its submitted Phase- In Plan (DRD #25). The phase-in process shall be accomplished as expeditiously as possible, with a maximum phase-in period of forty-five (45) days. The phase-in process shall not adversely impact the work being done by the outgoing contractor. It shall be conducted in a manner consistent with safe operations requirements per the Work Instructions (WIs) and Qualities Instructions (QI)s. These instructions will be made available during phase-in. The incoming Contractor is responsible for providing a qualified staff by the end of the phase-in period to perform all requirements in this contract.

4.2 Core Contract Management

The Contractor shall provide an overall management and administrative function to ensure that the proper resources are available and allocated; schedules are met; adequate reports and documentation are prepared; and the overall environment supports ARTS requirements. The Contractor shall manage the contract in a fiscally responsible manner.

The Contractor shall seek, and recommend to NASA, opportunities to operate more efficiently or at lower cost while meeting all other requirements.

4.2.1 Management/Administration

The Contractor shall provide a well-defined, stable organizational structure with clear lines of authority and clearly identified Government interfaces.

The Contractor shall ensure the facilities are available for scheduled simulation experiments.

The Contractor shall ensure compliance with NASA and ARTS Facilities processes and procedures for simulation development and execution, software and hardware development, IT Security, and configuration management.

The Contractor shall manage the contract resources allocated by NASA for specific projects in a manner to ensure experiments and projects are performed in accordance with defined schedules.

The Contractor shall identify and advise NASA on critical skills needed to cover ARTS Facilities’ commitments.

The Contractor shall maintain the ability to quickly obtain necessary resources to perform specialized, short duration, or compartmentalized work to be conducted for ARTS Facilities as needed.

The Contractor shall implement a process for elevating issues with local Contractor management or acquisition services to corporate management for resolution.

The Contractor shall maintain and update current plans and procedures to ensure ARTS Facilities’ products consistently meet requirements. Plans and procedures that currently exist will be made available to the Contractor and may be used to assist in the fulfillment of this requirement. Plans, procedures, and updates shall be approved by the Government.

The Contractor shall document and obtain approval from the Contracting Officer (CO) and Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for all deviations, waivers, and non-compliance to the requirements of individual Technical Direction (TD) and/or authorized task orders.

The Contractor shall identify, disposition, and report Organizational Conflicts of Interest (OCIs) during contract performance in accordance with the Contractor’s OCI Plan (DRD #18)

The Contractor shall comply with NPR 2810.7, Controlled Unclassified Information, NPR 2200.2, Requirements for Documentation, Approval and Dissemination of Scientific and Technical Information, and NPR 2210.1, Release of NASA Software.

4.2.1.1 Handling and Protection of Government Controlled Contractor Generated Data

(a) In the performance of this contract it is anticipated that the Contractor may generate data which the Government intends to control the release, publication, distribution and use thereof.

(b) For data generated by the Contractor in support of an identified Space Act Agreement, Commercial Space Launch Act Agreement, Commercial Space Competitiveness Act Agreement, or Cooperative Research and Development Agreement; or for data otherwise identified by the Contracting Officer, the Contractor agrees, to:

(1) use and disclose such data only to the extent necessary to perform the work required under this contract in support of such agreement, with particular emphasis on restricting disclosure of the data to those persons who have a definite need for the data in order to perform under this contract in support of such agreement;

(2) not reproduce the data unless reproduction of the data is specifically permitted by the Contracting Officer;

(3) refrain from disclosing the data to third parties without the written consent of the Contracting Officer; and

(4) return or deliver the data including all copies thereof to the Contracting Officer or his designated recipient when requested by the Contracting Officer.

4.2.2 Communication

The Contractor shall participate in a weekly status meeting to review scheduling, resources, risks, and critical issues.

The Contractor shall provide a monthly briefing, in conjunction with delivery of the Contract Summary Report (DRD #1), on the state of ARTS Facilities activities and budget status.

If a TD is sufficiently complicated and/or the Government requests one, the Contractor shall submit a Technical Direction Implementation Plan (TDIP) (DRD #29).

4.2.3 Procurement

The Contractor shall provide procurement services for materials, equipment, and services required for ongoing ARTS Facilities operation. In addition to purchasing materials and equipment for day-to-day operations, the Contractor shall also purchase materials and equipment for projects and maintenance and shall provide procurement expertise when necessary to ensure the success of a project or to enhance facility performance. Some procurements will be time critical. All procurement activity shall be in accordance with all Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), ARC 52.230-90 and NASA regulations. All items shall be awarded within the delivery schedule agreed to between NASA and the Contractor. The Contractor shall maintain a procurement log of all purchases.

4.2.4 Property Management

The Contractor shall work with NASA Property Management to tag new equipment and enter it into the NASA Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E) System as required, track tagged and untagged ARTS Facilities equipment, support ARC property inventories, and process excess equipment no longer needed.

4.2.5 Training

The Contractor shall provide a management structure to effectively manage a qualified professional and technical workforce engaged in a wide range of research and development (R&D) support services. The Contractor shall have the organizational structure, internal procedures, and administrative support to effectively manage the work performed under this contract. The Contractor shall provide any necessary secretarial and financial services for their employees, as well as all training required to perform work under this contract. The Government will not provide any such support services or training. All contractor personnel shall have required certification and skills to perform the tasks they are assigned to without further training provided by the Government.

4.2.6 Travel

The Contractor personnel may be required to travel for short periods of time to attend planning meetings, participate in industry site visits, attend technical conferences, or support requesting organizations.

The Contractor shall:

o Comply with NFS 1852.242-71, Travel Outside of the United States. All international travel must be necessary to the efforts required under the contract and otherwise in the best interest of NASA and be approved in advance by the CO.

o Comply with to NPR 1660.1C, NASA Counterintelligence and

Counterterrorism, NPR 9710.1, General Travel Requirements, and High Threat Security Overseas Seminar (HTSOS) training requirements.

o The Contractor shall submit all foreign travel requests to the cognizant

ARC Foreign Travel Coordinator for review/approval at least 30 days before the planned departure date, so that an electronic country clearance (eCC) can be obtained. The applicable program, project, agreement, or contract should be referenced in the supporting documentation included with the request.

4.2.7 Phase Out

Upon completion of this contract, the outgoing Contractor is responsible for the orderly transfer of duties and records to the incoming Contractor. This should be accomplished in an expeditious manner, consistent with any contract phase-in schedule, while minimally impacting ongoing work including task orders. The Contractor shall submit a phase-out plan no later than 60 days before the end of the contract for Government review and approval (DRDs #26 & #27).

4.3 Core Technical Services

4.3.1 ARC Technical Direction

(a) Performance of the requirements under the CPFF Core work in PWS 4.3 under this Contract is subject to the Technical Direction of the Contracting Officer (CO) or the designated Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR).

(b) "Technical Direction" means a directive to the Contractor that provides clarification of the Contract’s higher level contract requirements stated in the Performance Work Statement (PWS), to include approaches, solutions, designs, deliverables, refinements or shifts within tasks, or inquiries related to the general tasks and requirements in the PWS or specifications.

(c) Technical Direction does not include any instruction that--

(1) Constitutes an assignment of additional work outside the statement of work (i.e.

“new work”);

(2) Constitutes a change as defined in the Changes clause;

(3) Constitutes a basis for any increase or decrease in the total price, any milestone price, or the time required for performance or delivery;

(4) Changes any of the expressed terms, conditions, or specifications of the Contract;

(5) Interferes with the Contractor's rights to perform the terms and conditions of the Contract; or

(6) Changes any performance-based requirement.

(d) All technical direction will be issued in writing by the CO or the designated COR using the NASA ARC Technical Direction form (See Exhibit A – Technical Direction Form).

(e) The Contractor shall provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) for the scope of work in the technical direction within 5 business days of receiving a request from the CO or COR. The Contractor shall proceed promptly with the performance of technical direction issued by the CO or COR, unless, in the Contractor's opinion, any instruction or direction falls within any of the categories defined in paragraph (c) of this PWS section. In the latter event, the Contractor shall not proceed but shall within 5 working days notify the CO in writing of the basis for its opinion. Within 30 calendar days of receiving this notification, the CO will either amend the technical direction, request a proposal for an amendment to the Contract or Task Order, advise the Contractor in writing that the technical direction is considered to be within the limits of this PWS section and that the Contractor should proceed promptly with its performance, or rescind the technical direction in its entirety.

(f) A failure of the Contractor and CO to agree that the instruction or direction is both within the requirements of the Contract and does not constitute a change under the Changes clause, or a failure to agree upon the Contract action to be taken with respect to the instruction or direction, shall be subject to the Disputes clause of this Contract.

(g) Any action(s) taken by the Contractor in response to any direction given by any person other than the CO or the designated COR shall be at the Contractor's risk and prohibited under this contract.

4.3.2 Systems Engineering

The Contractor shall provide system engineering services to support simulation experiments, anticipated to be in the range of two to six experiments per Government fiscal year, to ensure the continuing operation and evolutionary improvement of the simulation facilities. Services may include, but are not limited to:

• Recommending and integrating advanced technology into simulation systems.

This may also include developing advanced engineering techniques to improve fidelity and validity of simulations.

• Recommending, designing, and integrating changes to networks; software and hardware infrastructure; software system architecture, and connectivity.

• Recommending upgrades to reduce the cost of simulation development, maintenance, or operations.

• Ensuring compliance with NASA and ARTS Facilities Information Technology (IT) Security and systems administration procedures and processes.

• Supporting discrete projects.

4.3.3 Software Development

The Contractor shall provide the following software development capabilities. These requirements apply whether the software is system, applications, or infrastructure software. The software can be associated with an ARTS Facilities facility, simulation experiment, or in support of discrete projects.

• Developing, integrating, and verifying specialized software such as real-time schedulers, debug packages, simulation development tools, input/ output routines, special device drivers, and connectivity software between facilities.

• Developing software requirements from NASA, ARTS Facilities user or researcher, or project requirements; and developing, integrating, and verifying software that meets these requirements.

• Developing software interfaces between ARTS Facilities hardware and software components, researcher supplied hardware and software, and external components for distributed simulations.

• Interact with NASA and ARTS Facilities customers, or projects to deliver status, schedules, plans, risks, and problems with a plan for remediation to Branch management.

• Complying with ARTS Facilities Software Development Procedures and applicable sections of NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) and Ames Procedural Requirement (APR) 7150 and other applicable NASA standards and specifications.

• Using a NASA-provided single software Configuration Management tool for all NASA/ARTS developed software. Use a NASA-provided software release system compliant with NASA standards. Operational versions of software, versions undergoing testing, developmental versions, and previous operational versions of the software will be identified, archived, and accessible at all times.

• Training ARTS Facilities staff on new software as necessary.

• Complying with NASA and ARTS Facilities Configuration Control

Board and IT security procedures and processes.

• Implementing a system of programming standards, design, coding, configuration management, and documentation methods in compliance with NASA requirements.

• Updating data collection and reduction software.

• Updating user and programming instructions where needed and other documents, including those for training.

• Recommending upgrades to facilities’ Operating System (OS), compiler, and other vendor software; and integrating, installing, and verifying/validating vendor software for the computer systems that support the ARTS Facilities.

• Maintaining vendor software documentation:

o Archive vendor software documentation, source code, and license information; and o Maintain vendor software configuration information for each simulation system computer.

• Maintaining NASA/ARTS developed software documentation:

o Produce and archive user and developer documentation for NASA/ARTS developed software; and o Comment code developed under NASA/ARTS.

• Assist ARTS Facilities users and customers with software questions.

• Produce software code and related software engineering artifacts (such as tests, JIRA reports, architecture sketches, and others) using agile software development practices and adhering to Software Development Management and Assurance Plans.

• Design and development microservices software code following standard Enterprise Integration patterns, using open-source solutions as necessary.

• Develop microservices monitoring/observability, custom monitoring dashboards, and logging.

• Develop scripts for microservices deployment.

• Design and development new user interfaces, integration with new microservices, and new communication exchanges.

• Support, maintain and enhance Public and Private User Interfaces and backend

APIs.

• Testing, integrating, and deploying software components such as microservices, messaging middleware, and standalone external services like authorization servers or data services

• Validation and Verification (V&V) support to assist in preparing and productionalizing the infrastructure being built up for research projects and external collaborations.

• Manage network and application security and maintain a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline.

• Manage AWS services, and design/implement system AWS infrastructure.

• Support outreach and collaboration efforts with external customers and partners

In accordance with NASA and ARC directives, the Contractor shall provide system administration services for ARTS Facilities’ simulation computers, servers, and networks, and the ARTS Facilities infrastructure architecture to ensure the integrity of real time operations, the security of proprietary and sensitive data, and compliance with IT security requirements.

NASA plans to continue to release WorldWind (See Section 1.1.8) as open-source software, therefore, any upgrades or enhancements to WorldWind under this Contract will be released and maintained as open-source releases. NASA does not currently have any plans to release any other software capability listed within this Contract as open-source. However, NASA could decide to release the Federated Airspace Management Framework (Freddie) (Section 1.1.5) as open-source during this Contract. NASA could also release ATM TestBed (Section 1.1.6), Sherlock (Section 1.1.7), and Freddie, including software upgrades and enhancements developed under this Contract, through a NASA Software Usage Agreement with an external entity.

4.3.4 Systems Administration

The Contractor shall provide the following system administration capabilities. These requirements apply whether the systems are on-premises located locally or located remotely where remote system administration is required. These requirements also apply to cloud-based system infrastructure. These requirements also apply to ongoing enterprise operations under testing in the field that require extended service and support hours (6:00am to 10:00pm PST/PDT local time, seven days/week).

• System administration, maintenance, and security compliance of Linux (CentOS, Ubuntu, RedHat) and Windows server and operating systems consistent with the equipment in the Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) list.

• Support Desktop system administration and operating system (OS) upgrades/patches.

• Support IT security continuous monitoring tasks, OS updates/patching, benchmark compliance and maintenance, Cyber Security Evaluation Tool (CSET) compliance, and system’s IT Security Plan maintenance

• Maintain core network services such as lightweight directory access protocol, domain name system, web servers, and workstation deployment.

• Design and development Continuous Delivery Tools DevOps infrastructure using Jenkins, Docker, and Git

• Support the implementation of automated software builds, releases, and deployments within cloud environments such as Amazon Web Services

• Build and maintain cloud environments using Infrastructure as Code, containerized platforms, and virtual networking tools

• Ensure data warehouse user interface, services, export/transform/load processes, data archiving, data loading capabilities are working properly. Ensure product quality, document issues, and mitigate data quality gaps.

• Complying with NASA and ARTS Facilities Configuration Control Board and IT security procedures and processes.

• Provide extended service and support hours (6:00am to 10:00pm PST/PDT local time, seven days/week) to systems under operational testing in the field.

• Purchasing and renewing software licenses and maintenance contracts as directed in support of ARTS Facilities.

• Supporting troubleshooting efforts when simulations are down, incorporating, and documenting solutions to reported problems.

• Performing scheduled computer backups as required by ARTS Facilities procedures per the Work Instructions.

4.3.5 Aerospace Engineering and Applications Programming

The Contractor shall perform aerospace engineering and applications programming to complete the design, development, modification, installation, checkout, and documentation of all real-time models (e.g., models of advanced and existing aircraft for real-time computation), which may include, but is not limited to:

• Integration of auto-coded MatLab math models into the simulation real-time infrastructure.

• Ground reactions and ground handling models.

• Primary and secondary flight control systems.

• Auto flight systems.

• Avionics systems.

• Propulsion systems.

• Fuel system.

• Hydraulic systems.

• On-board auxiliary systems.

• Air conditioning/pressurization systems.

• Navigation systems programs.

• Detection/communication systems.

• Maintenance or creation of new navigational data bases (terrain profiles, radio communications, etc.).

• Development and modification of advanced aircraft models and air traffic control management for real-time computation.

• Determination of methods to provide effective visual/motion cues to simulator pilots.

• Scenario development.

4.3.6 Graphics Programming

The Contractor shall complete or modify the design, development, installation, checkout, and documentation of graphics, text, and display software for the facilities, which may include, but is not limited to:

• Development, integration, and verification of real-time graphics software including out-the-window 3-D database development, moving models, video streaming software, aircraft instrumentation and ATM displays. Databases and moving models are either vendor supplied, NASA/ARTS modified or developed.

• Development, integration and verification of text and graphic displays for aircraft heads-down, heads-up, simulation control and data displays.

• Development, integration, and verification of ATM graphics and displays.

4.3.7 Simulator Hardware and Mechanical Systems Engineering and Operations

Simulator hardware and mechanical systems can be separate systems, or several sub- systems interconnected as a larger system. The Contractor shall:

• Design, fabricate, modify, assemble, and integrate simulator hardware and equipment for simulation research operations and discrete projects. Tasks may include fabrication of original equipment from design drawings or sketches and/or modification to existing mechanical hardware and systems including but not limited to cab instrument panels and consoles, floor panels, seats, visual display support structures, sheet metal assemblies, pilot control devices such as sticks, grips, surface controls, and power management mechanisms.

• Design, develop, maintain, operate, and modify simulator mechanical, hydraulic, electrical/electronic, and servo systems.

• Operate and monitor the simulator during simulation experiments per ARTS Facilities procedures.

• Integrate structural modifications to ARTS Facilities systems.

• Modify electronic chassis, assemblies and subassemblies, and cables using wire wrap, termi-point, and soldering techniques.

• Support hardware-in-the-loop simulation by integrating customer-provided hardware into the simulators.

• Develop/maintain simulator equipment operations and maintenance logs for usage/configuration and availability, and a discrepancy reporting and tracking system.

• Understand and manage an integrated and diverse simulator hardware environment.

4.3.7.1 Maintenance

The maintenance of ARTS Facilities is significantly more complex than maintenance of standard training simulators. The unique nature of the equipment, and the research and development environment require different capabilities than those needed to maintain a training facility. The Contractor shall be capable of troubleshooting, maintaining, and repairing complex simulation environments consisting of many integrated components including vendor or researcher-supplied software and/or hardware (some of which may be proprietary), software and hardware modified or developed under NASA/ARTS, complex networks and servers, and distributed simulations within ARC and with other government and industry partners. In addition, the maintenance staff inspects, starts up, and tests the simulators before operation.

The Contractor shall comply with NASA and ARTS Facilities’ safety, Configuration Control and IT security procedures and processes in performing these requirements.

The Contractor shall perform maintenance and repair services on equipment according to the design specifications and manufacturer's recommendations. The Contractor shall transition to a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). The database currently used is the MAXIMO® Maintenance System as specified by NASA.

4.3.7.1.1 Preventative Maintenance

The Contractor shall perform preventative maintenance of ARTS Facilities systems, including but not limited to:

• Providing mechanical maintenance in accordance with Simulation Facility

Operations Manuals, NASA safety requirements, manufacturer’s service information, and standard industry practices.

• Cleaning, lubricating, servicing, adjusting, and tuning the simulators, to support simulation schedules.

• Maintaining digital computers and analog systems with associated peripherals, and interfaces.

• Maintaining simulation lab hardware, such as simulation engineers control station/workstations, cameras, and audio/video equipment for data collection purposes.

• Maintaining visual and graphics generation systems such as computer-generated out-the-window imagery systems, special symbology generators, and graphics workstations.

• Maintaining control loaders and hydraulic power units.

• Maintaining communications and audio systems such as aircraft sound systems, voice input/output systems, radio simulation equipment, and laboratory intercoms.

• Maintaining cockpit instrumentation and displays.

• Perform Condition based analysis and studies.

• Perform Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) based long term

Maintenance, Calibration, and Repair Program strategy and include the following types: Predictive Testing and Inspection (PT&I)

• Condition Based Maintenance (CBM)

• Implement an RCM-based Maintenance and Repair Program.

• Implement notification schedules for instrumentation calibration.

• Design, install, and operate Diagnostic Maintenance Systems.

• Update CMMS maintenance procedures.

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date CMMS history.

• Update facility configuration changes per established procedures.

The Contractor shall implement and update a preventative maintenance schedule (DRD #32). Upon completion of scheduled preventative maintenance, the Contractor shall document the date of completion and any failures, observations, or concerns.

It is required that the ARTS facilities will be operational 95% of the time during a scheduled experiment. The Contractor shall provide all services necessary to maintain the simulation facilities and to maximize simulation system uptime including procuring and coordinating depot repair from off-site vendors where appropriate.

The Contractor shall recommend and procure spare parts sufficient to support routine maintenance and anticipated failures for hardware supported internally, and the tools required to maintain simulator equipment. The Contractor shall recommend how many spare units are needed to maintain 95% simulator up-time when components must be serviced by off-site vendors.

4.3.7.1.2 Corrective Maintenance

Corrective maintenance shall be performed either internally by the contractor or through off-site vendors if the capability to perform the corrective maintenance is not available. The contractor shall obtain competitive pricing or negotiate fair and reasonable prices per applicable FAR regulation. The resulting data will need to be supplied to the CO and COR. This will be performed as needed on all ARTS Facilities equipment. When simulators are down or significantly degraded, corrective maintenance is time critical.

The Contractor shall maintain a corrective action log including equipment information, the name of the responding technician, the date of the corrective action, the symptoms of the problem, the cause of the problem and the corrective action taken.

The Contractor shall review corrective action data approximately yearly and use the results of the reviews to recommend updates to spare parts or spare unit inventories, or replacement of equipment that is becoming a risk to simulator availability or is too expensive or nearly impossible to maintain.

4.3.8 Safety and Mission Assurance

The Contractor shall comply with all applicable NASA and ARC requirements, standards, processes, and procedures concerning the design, development, integration, quality assurance, and operations of ARTS Facilities, maintenance and shop activities, project management, and software and hardware design, implementation, and verification/validation.

4.3.8.1 Environmental Compliance

The Contractor shall ensure that all environmental regulatory agency interactions or correspondence relating to NASA or contract activities are performed by or coordinated through the NASA Environmental Management Division (EMD).

The Contractor shall participate in regulatory agency inspections and NASA internal inspections, audits, and Environmental and Energy Functional Reviews when requested by the Government. Provide the Government, or authorized contractor representative, immediate access to Contractor sites or areas to conduct surveillance activities. Provide training and compliance records to the Government, or authorized contractor representative, upon request. Develop and implement corrective actions to any findings or deficiencies. Submit written corrective action responses and finding closure documentation as requested by the Government.

The Contractor shall respond to periodic environmental data calls issued by the NASA EMD regarding Contractor operations and assigned systems, facilities, and equipment.

Submit responses by the due date and in the format outlined in the data call. Examples include hazardous and controlled waste site information; air emission source inventories; unregulated storage tank inventories; and chemical usage and storage records.

The Contractor shall properly manage and dispose of hazardous waste, controlled waste, and industrial wastewater according to the requirements in APR 8500.1. Submit waste profile information, waste sampling requests, and waste pick-up requests to the ARC Waste Management Office as required. Ensure that employees who generate, handle, store, or manage hazardous waste receive hazardous waste training and, where applicable, have job descriptions that meet the requirements of Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 262.17. Maintain inspection records and hazardous waste site contingency plans.

The Contractor shall comply with ARC Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) plan.

The Contractor shall comply with air emissions requirements in the current NASA ARC Synthetic Minor Air Operation Permit and in APR 8500.1. Maintain records necessary to demonstrate compliance with the ARC Synthetic Minor Air Operation Permit, Federal Clean Air Act regulations, or State of California air emissions regulations and submit those records to the NASA EMD when requested.

The Contractor shall track chemical usage/storage data and maintain records necessary to comply with Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) regulations and NASA reporting requirements described in APR 8500.1.

The Contractor shall support ARC’s Environmental Management System (APR 8553.1) and assist NASA in achieving the goals outlined in ARC’s Five-Year Sustainability Plan and current sustainability-related Executive Orders.

The Contractor shall support NASA’s Sustainable Acquisition Program and ensure that Contractor procurements comply with NASA’s Sustainable Acquisition Program requirements and requirements described in APR 8500.1.

The Contractor shall prepare an annual green purchasing, recycling, and solid waste diversion report for the Contractor’s previous government fiscal year activities and submit the report directly into the NASA Environmental Tracking System (NETS) by the due date in the data call. The report shall include information regarding Environmental Protection Agency-Designated Recycled Content Products, USDA- Designated Biobased Products, successes, and pilot projects.

4.3.8.2 System Safety

The Contractor shall provide copies of valid certifications from vendors providing safety critical parts or services.

The Contractor shall perform all tasks required by Protection of Human Research Subjects (NPR 7100.1).

The Contractor shall meet Human Research Planning and Approval Guidelines in accordance with APR 7170.1. The Contractor shall be an active participant in the Government Industry Data Exchange Program (GIDEP). As necessary, projects including significant design, fabrication, or modification to motion simulators and/or their equipment shall require review and approval through the Human Occupancy Review Board.

The Contractor shall carry out safety testing and maintenance in accordance with safety requirements as approved by ARC’s System Safety and Mission Assurance organization.

4.3.8.3 Occupational Safety

The contractor will develop and subsequently implement a safety and health program based on an approved S&H Plan (DRD #07) and applicable requirements in the PWS/SOW that will include policies and procedures for compliance with pertinent NASA policies and requirements, and Federal, State, and local regulations for safety, health, environmental protection, and fire protection. The contractor's Safety and Health Program will be used to assure integration of the contractor as a full participant in the Center's Safety and Health Program.

Mishap Investigation and Reporting: The Contractor shall immediately notify the Contracting Officer or a designee of any Type A, B, C, or D Mishap, or close calls as defined in NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) 8621.1, Mishap and Close Call Reporting, Investigating, and Recordkeeping. The investigations and reporting of mishaps shall include corrective actions to be implemented to prevent recurrence. Reporting requirements for electronic reporting in the Contractor Monthly Accident Reporting data system and the NASA Mishap Information System, in accordance with NFS Clause 1852.223-70 are in DRD #08 and DRD #09.

The Contractor shall submit a Contractor Monthly Accident Report (CMAR) (DRD #09).

4.3.8.4 Reliability and Quality Assurance

The Contractor shall preserve and ensure facility integrity in terms of availability, reliability, and maintainability such that facilities, including all development systems and support equipment, are operational and perform to requirements during scheduled operations. Contractor shall keep statistics of downtime and analyze this data to make recommendations to reduce downtime.

The Contractor shall establish and maintain a Reliability and Quality Assurance Plan (DRD #31) that assures that maintenance, repairs, and modifications to equipment are performed.

The Aerospace Systems Division (Code AF) is required to maintain current up-to-date operational, safety, maintenance, quality etc. policies and procedures in accordance with the Ames Management System.