MFS_Requirements.pdf

Commercial Microgravity Flight Services Requirements

Background

In the past, NASA successfully achieved this mission and fully met the listed requirements by use of a slightly modified C-9 (military variant of the DC-9 commercial transport) aircraft flown, operated, and maintained by NASA flight and ground crews. More recently, aircraft and flight services were contracted by NASA to provide these services and were operated in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Advisory Circular (AC) 00-1.1A, “Public Aircraft

Operations”. Under this AC, NASA was responsible for determining the airworthiness and flight safety of the Contractor’s microgravity aircraft operations and maintenance. Consequently, contractors for NASA Microgravity Aircraft services were required to maintain a program that allows sufficient NASA insight to approve FAA regulatory deviations for the NASA mission while the contractor aircraft was operated as Public Use. Upon the completion of a NASA mission the aircraft was returned to its original civil status and returned to service under FAA airworthiness regulations. It was the responsibility of the contractor to ensure compliance with all FAA regulations when returning an aircraft to civil use.

Technical and Operational Requirements for Microgravity Missions

Microgravity flights provide a unique "reduced gravity" or "micro-g" environment as well as hyper gravity (1.1 through 1.8 times normal earth gravity) and simulated Lunar, Martian, and asteroid gravity levels for research in areas such as fluid physics, combustion, material sciences, and life sciences, engineering development (for the International Space Station and other space hardware programs); for education; and for astronaut flight crew training.

The typical operation involves one or more self-contained experiments that are installed on the platform and activated in flight during the microgravity periods by a human operator. Data is recorded, and experiments are often photographed. Upon completion of the flight, the experiment is removed to be refurbished and prepared for future flights. The experiments are usually observed and/or tended during flights by a human experimenter.

Reduced gravity parabolic trajectories and increased gravity constant-g maneuvers are normally within the design envelope of FAA-certificated jet transport aircraft; however, the repeated parabolic trajectories may constitute additional duty cycles that manufacturers did not consider in the design of their aircraft and engines.

NASA is assessing the feasibility of obtaining microgravity flight services on a purely commercial basis. In such an operation, the provider will operate as a “civil aircraft” and bears full responsibility for airworthiness, flight safety, and mission assurance, and these services do not require Public Aircraft Operation (PAO – ref. AC 00-1.1A) with commensurate NASA airworthiness approvals. Recognizing the ability of industry to provide microgravity flight services to the public at large, respondents are required to provide information on the practicality of providing this service to NASA in accordance with the requirements shown below utilizing certificated aircraft with an FAA approved maintenance and operations plan that does not depend upon NASA airworthiness authority under a Public Aircraft Operations concept.

Under a non-PAO concept, NASA will provide limited airworthiness oversight for payload design and payload integration for NASA payloads only. In accordance with its policy NPR

7900.3D (http://go.usa.gov/sWt9), NASA will also perform an initial airworthiness review including a physical inspection of the proposed aircraft and detailed review of its maintenance records. In situations where there will be a human tended experiment, there will be additional requirements for flight safety and mission assurance reviews and approvals.

The Contractor shall provide an aircraft capable of safely providing periods of zero, partial, and hyper (levels between 1.10 and 1.80) gravity to support the NASA research and development mission. The aircraft shall provide specialized services required by NASA experiments.

Payloads

Payloads may include gases, fluids, biologicals, mechanical devices, and may have hazardous and/or combustible materials, including cryogenics. Payloads may have RF transmitters and

Bluetooth or WiFi network connections. Size of payloads may vary considerably; some payloads may be as small as a 1U cubesat, while others may be as large as the aircraft experiment bay

(allowing sufficient room for safe installation and access). Human-tended payloads will require interaction with a payload specialist or principal investigator and egress considerations. Some payloads will require overboard venting of gaseous materials. Some payloads will have stationary cameras, strapped on cameras, or both. Often a photographer may be flying with the payload.

Power Requirements

Payloads will typically require power to be supplied from the aircraft. Power requirements will vary with payload, but typically may include 28VDC, 110VAC 60 Hz single phase, 110VAC

400 Hz three phase, and 230VAC single phase. An example of power availability for transport type aircraft is shown below:

Power Type Total Current Available

28 Volts Direct Current (VDC) 120 Amps

115 Volt AC, 400 Hertz (Hz), Three Phase 35 Amps*

115 Volt AC, 60 Hz, Three Phase 30 Amps*

115 Volt AC, 60 Hz, Single Phase 150 Amps*

230 Volt AC, 60 Hz, Single Phase 30 Amps*

Gravity Level Requirements

The aircraft shall be capable of providing near zero gravity conditions, partial gravity conditions simulating Lunar, Martian, and asteroid gravities, as well as other specified levels up to 0.50 g.

The aircraft shall also be capable of providing sustained hyper-gravity conditions up to 1.80 g for periods of at least 1 minute in duration. In the past this had been accomplished through constant bank-angle turn. The aircraft shall be capable of providing as many as 60 maneuvers (parabolic trajectories and constant bank turns) per flight.

NASA microgravity profile requirements will vary for any given group of payloads and/or flight participants. In some cases, the objective may be to maximize the duration of low gravity exposure with less emphasis on accuracy and stability. This would be most likely with a non-critical payload where the objective is to give the flight participant a micro-gravity experience. In other cases, the accuracy and stability of the gravity level may be critical and duration less important.

Three microgravity profiles, one hyper-gravity profile, and one combined profile are defined below. The profiles are described from the perspective of the payload or flight participant, not the flight vehicle. These profiles represent minimum requirements for microgravity exposure.

Actual requirements may vary from those described here and will be defined in the relevant task order.

Definitions

• “Duration” refers to the length of time of stable microgravity

• “Accuracy” refers to the mean gravitational value for the duration of the maneuver.

• “Stability” refers to the absolute value of the maximum gravitational excursions from the mean value.

• “Lateral and longitudinal excursions” refers to the maximum absolute value of deviations from nominal zero acceleration, lateral (sideways) and longitudinal (forward and back) relative to the aircraft fuselage.

• “Entry and completion excursions” refer to the absolute value of positive and negative g forces encountered during entry and completion of the parabolic maneuvers prior to stable microgravity. This period shall be 3 – 5 seconds in duration.

Microgravity Profile 1 (M1): Exposure to Zero (0.00) Gravity - Accuracy Critical

The objective is to expose a science/technology payload to very accurate low gravity values without regard to the quantity of profiles per flight hour. Contractor shall provide microgravity, nominally zero (0) g, for a critical payload. Accuracy and stability of microgravity is very important. Exposure to longitudinal and lateral gravitational deviations and negative values of gravity may have a deleterious impact on the experiment.

• Accuracy: +/- 0.01 g

• Stability: +/- 0.01 g

• Duration: not less than 12 seconds per parabola

• Longitudinal and lateral gravitational deviations: not to exceed +/- 0.01 g

• Entry and completion g excursions: not to exceed + 1.50 g or - 0.01 g

Microgravity Profile 2 (M2): Exposure to Partial (0.00 – 0.50) Gravity - Accuracy Critical

The objective is to accurately simulate the gravitational field present on the Moon, Mars, or on an asteroid. Contractor shall provide reduced gravity, nominally 0.17g (Lunar), 0.38 g (Martian),

0.03 g (asteroid), or a specified partial gravity level from 0.00 to 0.50 g for a critical payload.

Accuracy and stability of microgravity is important. Exposure to longitudinal and lateral gravitational deviations and negative values of gravity may have a deleterious impact on the experiment.

• Accuracy: +/- 0.02 g

• Stability: +/- 0.02 g

• Duration: Asteroid - not less than 20 seconds per parabola; Lunar - not less than 25 seconds per parabola; Mars - not less than 30 seconds per parabola.

• Longitudinal and lateral gravitational deviations: not to exceed +/- 0.01 g

• Entry and completion g excursions: not to exceed + 1.20 g or - 0.02 g

Microgravity Profile 3 (M3): Exposure to Zero (0.00) Gravity – Non-Critical

The objective is to maximize duration of low gravity exposure per flight hour for sensitive medical or scientific human test subjects and other experiments. Contractor shall provide microgravity, nominally zero (0.00) g, to a flight participant as specified by Task Order.

Accuracy and stability of microgravity is not critical. However, excessively high positive or negative deviations shall be avoided because of potential risk to subjects.

• Accuracy: +/- 0.20 g

• Stability: +/- 0.20

• Duration: not less than 20 seconds per parabola

• Longitudinal and lateral gravitational deviations: not to exceed +/- 0.05 g

• Entry and completion g excursions: not to exceed + 1.20 g or - 0.02 g

Microgravity Profile 4 (M4): Exposure to Hyper (1.00 – 1.80) Gravity

The objective is to offer hyper-gravity conditions from 1.10 g up to 1.80 g. These are typically accomplished by flying a stable, constant-bank-angle turn for the required duration of the experiment.

• Accuracy: +/- 0.05

• Stability: +/- 0.05

• Duration: not less than 60 seconds per maneuver

• Longitudinal and Lateral gravitational deviations: N/A

• Entry and completion g excursions: + 0.05 g

Microgravity Profile 5 (M5): Exposure to Combined Hyper- and Microgravity

The objective is to expose a payload to both hyper- and microgravity under stable conditions during the same maneuver. The requirements for this profile will combine elements of one of profiles M1 through M4 with the additional requirement for stable hyper-gravity during the maneuver entry. Hyper-gravity requirements will range from 1.1 g to 1.8 g. Stability and accuracy will be as required by the microgravity portion of the maneuver. Duration of hyper-gravity will vary with the payload requirements. Transition from hyper- to micro-gravity shall occur over a 3 – 5 second period.

Respondent Requirements

Respondents are required to provide information regarding their aircraft operations and maintenance per Title 14 CFR Part 121 or 135, and any additional FAA requirements to meet the microgravity mission.

Interested parties having the required specialized capabilities to meet the requirements must submit a capability statement. All maintenance and operational actions required to support the microgravity flight service mission must be addressed in the capability statement.

In addition to the previously listed requirements, the Capability Statement shall include the following:

1. Does your organization have the capability to provide the services as described above? If so, please describe your capabilities and performance history for the following items. Include other pertinent capabilities.

• Describe your capabilities to meet the listed requirements.

• Describe the platform environment you can provide for experiments, including the number of independent experiment packages you are capable of accommodating per flight, the maximum volume and mass of experiments, the types and sources of power, environmental conditions and ability to vary environments, and ability to accommodate human flight participants

• Describe any restrictions on payload contents (e.g. mass, volume, battery types, gasses, temperatures, etc.)

• Describe your typical flight profiles for microgravity conditions, including a zero-g parabola (altitude/airspeed profile, as well as partial g-level profile) and hyper-gravity maneuvers up to 1.8 gravities

If your organization does not have all the capabilities described above, please provide a description of your capabilities and limitations. For example, a non-certificated aircraft may not be able to legally carry non-company employees or be able to support human-tended experiments but may be able to support standalone payloads. Describe your capabilities to support a low- or hyper-gravity payload, including size, mass, volume, power, etc.

2. Provide a rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimate for annual contract costs assuming 5 to

20 flight operations per year and 10 payloads per flight operation. Please show any formulas used to calculate costs. Include costs for payload integration and installation and removal to/from aircraft. If you cannot support 10 payloads per flight operation, describe the characteristics of the payloads you can support.

3. How would you manage a microgravity program including maintenance and operation of the aircraft; customer support; and payload integration?

• Describe the aircraft make and model you would propose using to provide these services

• Describe your engineering capability for integrating custom payload types

• Describe your airworthiness and flight safety processes, and how you intend to operate within FAA approval guidelines as an FAA-certificated aircraft.

• Describe your base of operations to support microgravity flight operations. Describe the location of your airfield and microgravity flight operations, and your access to aircraft ground support equipment and fuel.

• Describe your capabilities for payload integration, including how you assess the airworthiness of payloads and how you isolate payloads from aircraft systems

• Describe your ground facilities for experimenter preflight preparation and postflight maintenance of their experiments

• Describe your capabilities to provide special systems, such as lighting, intercom, precision gravity monitoring, etc.

4. What, if any, are the barriers to utilizing your aircraft to provide microgravity flight services as a certificated aircraft? Include how you would eliminate or mitigate potential barriers to utilizing your aircraft as “Other than a Public Aircraft.”

5. How do you plan to certify airworthiness and approve any necessary modifications to the aircraft type certificate?

6. What, if anything, would you require from NASA in order to provide microgravity flight services and other proposed services while operating your aircraft as a certificated aircraft?

7. Provide specific comments on the technical and operational requirements and the ease or difficulty you would have in meeting them.

8. What other recommendations or concepts of operation do you have on how to provide

Microgravity Flight Services to support the NASA mission?

9. NASA is interested in innovative approaches to achieving this mission, including use of smaller aircraft types (biz jet class, experimental, or military, rather than transport class), multiple aircraft types, or other innovative approaches including a multiple-award contract for achieving the full range of requirements from more than one vendor. Please provide any constructive suggestions toward this end. Explain the advantages of your suggested approach and potential barriers to executing the controlled gravity mission that you believe would be resolved by your approach.

10. As the requirement becomes more defined, we will consider other North American Industry

Classification System (NAICS) Codes. Please provide any input that may be beneficial to consider when selecting the NAICS code for Microgravity Flight Services.

Responses must include the following:

1. Name and address of firm and the name of the author of the suggestions.

2. Size of business; average annual revenue for the past three years and number of employees.

3. Whether the firm is a large business, Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, 8(a), HUBZone Small Business, Women Owned Small Business, Veteran Owned Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, or one of the Historically Black Colleges and

Universities/Minority Institutions.

4. Number of years in business.

5. Affiliate information: parent company, joint venture partners and potential teaming partners.

Summarize any government disciplinary or adverse actions against the firm or partners.

Reference: NASA Documents

1. NPR 1800.1D, Chapter 2.0, NASA Occupational Medicine, Section 2.14, “Shift Work and Balancing Work-Rest Cycles”

2. NPR 8715.3D, NASA General Safety Program Requirements (Updated w/Change 1)

3. NPR 7900.3D, NASA Aircraft Operations Management

4. NPR 8621.1C, NASA Procedural Requirements for Mishap and Close Call Reporting, Investigating, and Recordkeeping

Reference: FAA Documents & Public Law

1. Advisory Circular AC 00-1.1A, “Public Aircraft Operations”

2. Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14CFR)

3. Title 49 U.S.C. §§ 40102(a)(41) and 40125