JOFOC_POV_NNJ16HA77P.pdf

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. The document is a Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition prepared by the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Johnson Space Center (JSC), pursuant to 41 U.S.C. 1901 and Federal Acquisition Regulation 13.5.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This justification provides the rationale for contracting by other than full and open competition for the acquisition of the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) Primary Oxygen Vessel (POV) test units for the Advanced Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AEMU) from ARDE Inc. The AEMU development is in support of the Advanced Space Suit Project of the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES)

Division. The POV is an oxygen storage vessel in the PLSS that is worn on the back of the Crew during Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) or spacewalks. These particular prototypes will be assembled into the PLSS 2.5 assembly which is intended to serve as a design verification and test

(DVT) unit for the PLSS.

3. Description of the supplies or services required, including an estimated value:

The AEMU is being designed to accomplish planetary and near earth object exploration. In order for the new space suit to support this mission, the system must be able to reliably support missions ranging from seven days to several months in duration with daily EVA excursions. The new space suit is being designed for simplicity, high reliability, maintainability, and robustness in adverse conditions, borrowing heavily from proven designs and functionality demonstrated on the

Shuttle/International Space Station (ISS) Extravehicular Mobility Utility (EMU) Program. One of the approaches being leveraged from the Shuttle EMU Program is the use of cryo-formed A-basis allowable 301 Corrosion Resistant Steel (CRES); this proprietary approach and material of construction provides weight savings that approaches that of Composite Overwrapped Pressure

Vessels (COPV) for the PLSS vessel sizes while allowing for highly-reliable and -predictable monolithic metallic pressure vessel construction with facture mechanics properties that have been reviewed and approved by NASA for manned spaceflight use. The predictability of this approach is critical in that it allows for the use of a Leak Before Burst (LBB) design approach meaning that a critical flaw will grow through thickness of the wall causing a leak before propagating to a catastrophic failure. This is an essential safety element for pressure vessels maintained in such close proximity to the crew during operation in which falls or other loading conditions are also present. This approach is currently used for the Primary Oxygen Tanks on the ISS EMU.

This requirement will be met through a Firm-Fixed-Price purchase order awarded under Federal

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 13.5. The estimated value is $260,000 with a performance period of 6 months. The requirements for this contract will be comprised of the following:

Fabrication of quantity 2 POV test units per CTSD-CX-042 RevA

Certification of Compliance for all fabricated vessels

4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition for this action is 41 U.S.C.

1901(e)(2); this purchase will not exceed $5,000,000 and the contracting officer reasonably expects, based on the nature of the property or services sought and on market research, that offers will include only commercial items. Furthermore, 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) permits other than full and open competition “when the property or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source or only from a limited number of responsible sources and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the agency.” ARDE is the only vendor capable of fabricating the POV test units that are critical to the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Project, and any delay would result in an unacceptable delay in fulfilling the Agency's requirements for the

AES Project.

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

The leading technology for light weight pressure vessels, COPV, lack the required LBB capability that is essential in space suit life-support applications. More traditional, all-metal pressure vessels, such as Department of Transportation Certified pressure vessels, cannot meet the low mass requirements of space suit life support applications at the given pressures and volume. The proprietary cryo-formed 301 CRES pressure vessels produced by ARDE are the only tanks on the market to demonstrate LBB capability with the low mass required by space suit life support applications.

The ARDE all-metal life support vessels are manufactured in cryogenically-hardened CRES 301.

The cryo-forming process is an ARDE patented process, which effects a transformation of austenitic stainless steel into a dual-phase microstructure which is predominately martensite, but contains sufficient residual austenite to maintain high levels of fracture toughness and sub-critical crack growth resistance. This allows the cryogenically-hardened CRES 301 all-metal vessel to provide

LBB capability in addition to the commonly provided safe-life capability resident in spaceflight all-metal pressure vessels produced from alternative materials. In thin metal structures, the cryo-formed material exhibits high strength (up to 240 ksi) with very high plane stress fracture toughness (260 ksi

(in)^1/2) allowing this design approach to satisfy safety factor requirements while still providing weight savings.

ARDE utilizes a proprietary chemistry material that is subjected to double vacuum melt in mill processing. This is controlled by ARDE specification AES 258. ARDE has produced these vessels from a large number of material heats for over 50 years and has established A-basis strength properties as well as fracture mechanics properties for the material that have been reviewed and approved by NASA for manned spaceflight use.

Based on market research, ARDE is the only vendor that can produce cryogenically-hardened CRES vessels with a database that provides A-basis allowables and a supporting fracture mechanics database.

Based upon the above discussion demonstrating the unique qualifications of ARDE to fabricate the

POV test units, the impact of not contracting with ARDE could result in erroneous integrated test data, jeopardize the current project schedule and budget for PLSS Oxygen Systems development, and ultimately result in reduced safety for astronauts performing EVAs or severely impact the readiness of the life support system to meet NASA mission milestones for the AES Project.

6. Description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by

FAR 5.2:

A synopsis for this effort was posted to Fed Biz Opps on January 28, 2016, and closed on

February 12, 2016. No interested parties submitted a response to the synopsis.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The cost to the Government will be determined through the negotiation of a quote for supplies proposed for this FAR Part 13 simplified acquisition. Upon approval of this justification, a request for proposal will be issued to ARDE. The quote will be evaluated using historical cost data to ensure a fair and reasonable price to the Government.

8. Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons why market research was not conducted:

ARDE holds patents on the 301 CRES cryo-forming process that was used for the Shuttle EMU

Primary Oxygen Bottles (Hamilton Standard P/N SV784099) and required by CTSD-CX-0042 for the

AEMU POV in order to meet both strength/mass requirements and A-basis material requirements for behavior prediction. An internet survey of the leading pressure vessel manufacturers shows that

ARDE, Inc. was found to be the only vendor offering cryo-formed CRES 301 tanks with A-basis allowable for materials.

9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

Due to the narrow requirement of space suit life support pressure vessels, greater market completion within our requirement trade space is not expected. Barriers to competition will be reconsidered when this effort is completed. Future procurements will be assessed as they arise and it will be determined if competition is a viable option at that point in time.

10. Sources, if any, that expressed an interest, in writing, in the acquisition:

No sources expressed an interest in this acquisition.

11. The actions the Agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

NASA Technical organization will continue to research and assess the marketplace for alternative sources. No other actions are required at this time.