RFI 7.0 Questions and Answers.pdf

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center 2101 NASA Road 1 Houston, Texas 77058-3696

LUNAR TERRAIN VEHICLE

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) 7.0

RFI No. NNH20ZCQ001L

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The following questions were received in response to the RFI posted to sam.gov on August 30, 2021.

1. Would you accept an ‘informal’ submission that follows the RFI as closely as possible, with the intent simply being to share the work and perhaps inform future designs and concepts?

Answer: Please refer to the Request for Information posted on August 30, 2021 on sam.gov for the instructions and required format. Respondents are encouraged to respond per these instructions and responses will be reviewed by the Government.

2. In reference to the previous RFI, in the Q&A, answer to question 12, that the participant list was added to foster the development of teams and partnerships. Does this mean that it is advised that participating universities could reach out to current teams in the industry working on the LTV?

Answer: Collaboration is encouraged and there are no restrictions for universities to reach out to current teams in the industry working on the LTV, as stated in your question. NASA previously posted an Attendee List from the prior industry forum.

3. On page 6 in the table, the RFI states “NASA is anticipating on being able to spend up to 2 hours in a

PSR.” Is this expectation for the EVA use case (i.e., the LTV is configured to transport astronauts into a PSR for 2 hrs) or is this meant for a remotely operated science excursion in between human missions? Or both?

Answer: NASA is still evaluating which assets will need to be required to spend 2 hours in a PSR. For industry responses to this RFI, please provide answers to the posted questions using whichever configuration would result in being the bigger mass and power driver for LTV.

4. If possible, could the Government clarify which NASA personnel are involved in the LTV program and their roles?

o How will the LTV program responsibilities be divided between JSC and HEOMD (and possibly other parts of NASA)?

o Who will be the selection authority?

o Source board chair?

o HQ program executive?

o Program manager?

o Contracting officer?

o Legal counsel?

Answer: Please continue to monitor the LTV website at https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/ltv/. At this time, the Contracting Officer, Perry Lamar Mueller is listed as the Contracting Officer and Shyra Cullins is listed as the Contract Specialist. Currently, no other point of contacts are listed. In addition, NASA does not plan to disclose how program responsibilities will be divided; however, please continue to monitor sam.gov for any potential release of requirements or Request for Proposal.

5. What is the anticipated funding availability and phasing for initial awards?

Answer: NASA does not plan to disclose funding availability. Please continue to monitor the sam.gov website for updates to the LTV.

6. How many phases of competition are anticipated?

Answer: NASA does not have a requirement at this time and cannot answer this question. Please continue to monitor the sam.gov website for updates to the LTV.

7. What is the anticipated overall schedule (development, procurement, operational services)?

Answer: As stated in the RFI, the NASA anticipates to launch the vehicle in the 2027-time frame. Please continue to monitor the sam.gov website for updates to the schedule.

8. Under the service provider model, would NASA expect to select more than one service provider?

Answer: NASA is currently requesting information from the posted RFI on sam.gov. NASA cannot comment on this question at this time. Please continue to monitor the sam.gov website for updates to the

LTV.

9. What is the anticipated demand profile over time for LTV operational services?

Answer: NASA is currently requesting information from the posted RFI on sam.gov. NASA cannot comment on this question at this time. Please continue to monitor the sam.gov website for updates to the

10. What does NASA envision providing as GFE in order to reuse NASA investments, facilities, test centers, and proven capabilities from other missions?

Answer: NASA is currently requesting information from the posted RFI on sam.gov. NASA cannot comment on this question at this time. Please continue to monitor the sam.gov website for updates to the

11. For capability #3 in Table 1.2.1, is the desired capability a total of 20 km of driving without recharging, or reaching a distance of 20 km from the lander (i.e., at least 40 km round trip per excursion)?

Answer: NASA is looking for the LTV to be able to traverse up to 20 km in total distance without stopping to recharge.

12. For capability #6 in Table 1.2.1, LTV may need to spend up to 2 hours in a PSR. Is this with or without crew onboard?

Answer: NASA is still evaluating which assets will need to be required to spend 2 hours in a PSR. For industry responses to this RFI, please provide answers to the posted questions using whichever configuration would result in being the bigger mass and power driver for LTV.

13. How were the darkness duration reference points determined (36, 85, 125 hours)? Current available research suggests that very few locations near the south pole will experience less than 50 hours of darkness per month and many locations will experience considerably more.

a. Is there an implicit assumption about the locations at which the LTV will be operated (e.g., only on the rim of Shackleton Crater)?

Answer: NASA is considering locations in the Lunar South Pole Region. NASA has been performing analysis of the lighting conditions for locations at the lunar south pole using publicly available high-resolution lunar elevation data.

For the locations that NASA has analyzed, most lunar nights are on the order of a few hours to 36 hours in duration and occur on a regular basis. As more locations are analyzed, it is anticipated that there could be wider variations in the lunar night durations. The Lunar South polar region also has seasons that cause these periods of darkness to be more clustered during the lunar winter than in the lunar summer.

For the long duration darkness that occurs two or three times an Earth year, NASA has been evaluating location pairs. By utilizing location pairs, the total effective darkness can be reduced when compared to only evaluating a single location. This approach may require the LTV to traverse between the location pairs during periods of darkness.

14. If LTV must return to some maximum illumination location every lunar night, how far away from this location is LTV expected to venture during daylight conditions (without crew, and therefore without a walk-back distance restriction)?

Answer: This is currently under evaluation by NASA. Responses to the questions in this RFI will help inform NASA’s ongoing evaluation.

15. When will the Government release a draft of the Technical Reference Library?

Answer: At this time, NASA does not have a date for the potential release of a Technical Reference Library. Please continue to monitor the sam.gov website for updates to the LTV.

16. Is the Government still planning to hold another Industry Day before the RFP is released, as indicated on the LTV procurement schedule page (https://procurement.jsc.nasa.gov/ltv/schedule.asp)?

Answer: At this time, an additional Industry Day has not been scheduled. Please continue to monitor the sam.gov website for updates to the LTV.

17. The RFI states, “Please use 12-point Times New Roman font where paragraphed.” Because tables are not in paragraph format, other font and sizes are permissible for tables?

Answer: As stated in the RFI “Please use 12-point Times New Roman font where paragraphed”. Items not in paragraph form may use alternate font and size where applicable.