Statement of Work.pdf

SWESARR Twin Otter Mission Statement of Work

Background:

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is seeking flight operation support from an operator (also referred to as the vendor) of a Twin Otter aircraft to conduct two science aircraft flight campaigns with SWESARR (Snow Water Equivalent Synthetic Aperture Radar and Radiometer). The flights will occur in and around Fairbanks, Alaska and be part of the larger NASA SnowEx (Snow Experiment) mission. More information can be found about SnowEx at https://snow.nasa.gov/campaigns/snowex.

SnowEx Observation Periods are not exactly known at the time of this writing. The two SWESARR flight campaigns are planned to take place for two different snow conditions, pre- and post-snow fall. We are targeting pre-snow fall flights to take place in late October 2022 and post-snow fall campaign to take place in early March 2023. The instrument has flown in a similar SnowEx campaign in 2019/20 over the Grand Mesa, CO as well as earlier test flights.

This contract shall include all the requirements below and all associated costs to include fuel, hangarage, power, staffing, travel & per-diem costs, flight hours, integration, permits, and any other costs. In the event that the schedule and/or parameters of this statement of work (SOW) are altered due to events such as weather that prohibit flights, or other events outside of the Vendor or NASA’s control; then the Vendor shall be reimbursed for work completed, but not the entire value of this contract. In order to meet schedule work may need to be conducted outside normal business hours. Please include any overtime rates in your response.

NASA Twin Otter aircraft SWESARR Radome/Door

Requirements:

General Operator Requirements -

- The operator shall have experience flying science missions including previous projects with NASA and other government agencies, e.g. USFS and NOAA.

- The vendor’s pilots shall demonstrate capability and willingness to fly the plane in remote areas.

https://snow.nasa.gov/campaigns/snowex

- The vendor shall acquire all necessary FAA/DoD approvals (engineering and flight operations) to conduct the SWESARR flight campaign. NASA will obtain applicable spectrum authorization.

- The vendor shall perform all necessary engineering, manufacturing, and installation work to install SWESARR in a Twin Otter aircraft in accordance with NASA guidelines for Civil Air Services specified in (NPR7900_003D, NAIIxxxA, and 830-FOM-0001)

- The vendor shall provide logistical support for receiving of payload equipment from a government arranged shipper, excluding the cost of shipping.

- The vendor shall supply an area at its facility to support up to an eight person GSFC instrument team during integration (benches, internet access, 110 AC power, chairs, etc.)

- The operator shall obtain an appropriate facility near Fairbanks, AK to fly science flights from; referred to as the Forward Operating Base (FOB). The FOB shall at a minimum:

o Access to operational runways.

o Provide covered storage.

o Be suitable for science and vendor team member work. (benches, internet access, 110 AC power, chairs, etc.)

o Have reasonable access from commercial airlines.

o Be in the vicinity of Fairbanks, AK.

- The operator shall transit SWESARR to the FOB to support the science campaign.

- Upon successful completion of each campaign, the vendor shall remove SWESARR from the aircraft.

- The operator shall facilitate the storage of the instrument in a nearby safe location until the second campaign.

- The vendor shall provide logistical support for returning payload equipment to a government arranged shipper, excluding the cost of shipping.

Aircraft Baseline Requirements

- Operator shall provide DHC-6-300 aircraft with the following capability:

o Power requirements: SWESARR nominally requires 2350W 120V AC to power the science instruments. The maximum power draw is 3750 W.

o Minimum Payload Weight – 922 lbs. (platform plus 2 racks) o Minimum Payload Size – Platform 39x51x42.5”, two racks each 22x28x51” o Minimum flight time--6 hour o Science flight speeds 80-120 knots o Science flight altitudes 5000-6500 ft AGL o

- The operator shall be able to install and fly a modified Twin Otter LH (Left Hand) aft door. The door holds a radome (i.e., a radar transparent window, light brown color in picture above) needed for instrument operation. The door is provided by IKHANA and certified by a FAA Designated Engineer Representative (DER).

- The aircraft/operator shall have flight planning software that accepts science waypoints.

Operator/Aircraft Baseline Desirement -

• It is desired to keep the SWESARR Radiometer instrument powered or warmed through the night

(or more than 3 hours before flight).

• Auto-pilot capability is a plus for precision repeats of science lines.

• Ability to work on weekends.

• Ability to extend the nominal operational period by one or more days.

• Ability to extend the nominal operational flight hours.

Flight Operation Requirements

Overview

Installation of the instrument is expected to occur at the operator’s facility referred to as Basecamp.

Basecamp activity is expected to take no longer than 7 workdays including installation flight certification and testing. Length of the test flights will depend on issues uncovered but are expected to take under a total of 3 hours.

Up to 15 hours of science flights are to be conducted from the FOB. These science flights can take up to 10 days depending on weather conditions, issues with the instrument, coordination of flights with other instruments or crew emergencies.

The notional schedule in Table 1 is derived for the fall campaign assuming 5 days for transit time and an expected exercise start date of 18 October 2022. The official start date will be provided per the contract associated with this SOW:

Table 1 Notional Schedule for the SWESARR Fall Campaign.

A second flight campaign is planned to be conducted before 30 March 2023, which will be executed as an option to the contract associated with this SOW. The notional schedule for the second campaign is given in Table 2, assuming a 3/8/23 start date. The selection criteria for the second campaign are defined per the contract.

Table 2 Notional Schedule for the SWESARR Winter Campaign.

Event Duration (days) Notional Start Date FAR if new tail number 1 12/5/22

Event Duration (days)

Notional Start Date

FAR 1 7/11/22

ORR 1 8/11/22

Shipment GSFC to Basecamp 7 9/23/22 Installation and ground check 5 10/4/22

ATP and test flights 2 10/11/22

Transit to Forward Operating Base (FOB) 5 10/13/22

Operations 10 10/18/22 Transit to Basecamp 5 10/28/22

De-install 2 11/2/22 Store instrument at Basecamp 0 11/3/22

ORR 1 1/3/23

Retrieve from Storage 1 2/21/23 Installation and ground check 5 2/22/23 ATP and Test flights 2 3/1/23 Transit to Forward Operating Base (FOB)

5 3/3/23

Operations 10 3/8/23 Transit to Basecamp 5 3/18/23 De-install 2 3/23/23 Shipment to GSFC 7 3/25/23

Specific Flight Operations Requirements

- The vendor shall provide 3 hours of certification and test flights at the basecamp.

- The vendor shall conduct up to 15 hours of science flights from the FOB during the Fall

2022 campaign.

- The vendor shall conduct necessary transit flights to bring SWESARR to and from the

Forward Operating Base.

- Test and Science flights shall include the instrument and 3 payload personnel.

- The vendor shall provide emergency egress training and (as applicable) emergency equipment operation training to payload personnel prior to the payload personnel flying on the aircraft.

- The vendor, with input from the SWESARR POC, shall create a manifest prior to every SWESARR transit or science flight. A copy shall be provided to NASA personnel not flying on the aircraft. The manifest shall include the date, pilot names, payload personnel names, estimated time of departure, estimate time of arrival, departing airport International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) code, and arriving airport ICAO code.

Specific Flight Operations Desirements Stability and repeatability of the aircraft over the flight lines is critical for science retrieval. The following characteristic are desired for the operations to the best extent possible. This goal should help drive go-no-go criteria for weather conditions.

- Flight stability parameters during flight lines:

o Maximum roll off nominal 5 deg, over 90% of the line.

o Maximum yaw off nominal 5 deg, over 90% of the line.

o Maximum yaw deviation 2 deg from average, over any line.

o Maximum pitch off nominal +-5 deg, over 90% of the line

- Flight line accuracy o Maximum lateral deviation offline +- 30m, over 90% of the line o Maximum altitude deviation offline +- 30m, over 90% of the line o

GFSC SWESARR Provisions

GSFC personnel will:

- Ship the SWESARR instrument to the Basecamp prior to the installation date.

- The GSFC Principal Investigators (PI) or designated point of contact (POC) will supply flight line(s), mission profiles and payload operators 48 hours prior to each flight. The vendor shall complete all flight planning required to support the science flights.

- Assure all payload personnel meet NASA flight requirements.

- Support vendor installation and deinstallation activities.

- Support all review activity.

- Provide SOXMAP and installation assistance.

Flight Authorization

The aircraft and installed instrument must receive flight authorization prior to any flights as required by NASA’s NPR7900.003. NX0001 provides the implementing document form GSFC operations.

Accordingly, NX0001 section 4.6 requires a site audit by NASA Headquarters, Final Airworthiness Review (FAR) conducted by Eastern Region Airworthiness Review Board (ER-ARB), and Operational Readiness Review conducted GSFC airborne operations authorities.

To support the FAR the vendor shall work with the Project PI to supply the following information.

- An Intro-Briefing. The required material for the Intro Brief are:

o A description of the aircraft modifications: FAA 8110-3 and 337 (FAA-

Approved Documents) of Door modification.

o Applicable engineering analyses describe design criteria, aircraft loads.

o A description of the required flight operations.

- Completed Contract Aircraft Questionnaire needed for the NASA Safety Review.

- Configuration drawing of the aircraft showing the location of the instrument, racks, seats, etc. to support the SWESARR flight campaign.

- Proof of a successful electrical load analysis.

- Proof of a successful electromagnetic interference test.

- Pilot certification information.

- Signed documentation showing FAA approval (or comparable forms for DoD) for the installation of SWESARR on the aircraft.

- Weight and balance approximations.

- Any action items resulting from the NASA FAR review shall be complied by the vendor.

Per NPR7900 section 2.7.4.2 The following supporting documentation shall be included in an Airworthiness Review:

a. All design review documentation, results, RIDs/action items, and associated status.

b. Weight and balance.

c. Traceability to closed work packages associated with modification.

d. Status of any review or audit findings affecting the modification or flight. If applicable, include any mitigations put in place to address issues.

e. Minimum equipment list (MEL).

f. Associated waivers and deviations.

g. Product verification results.

h. QA results and issues.

i. Maintenance results and issues.

Following the successful completion of the FAR, the vendor and GSFC PI shall present to NASA an Operational Readiness Review (FRR) to include the following items (in vendor format, .pdf file type):

- Science mission requirements

- Flight operations procedures

- Operational Go/No-Go criteria

- Pilot qualifications, medicals, flight operations training, and flight manuals

- Aircraft configuration

- Aircraft maintenance

- Science payload and operations

- Payload combination

- Status of reviews

- Special weather conditions

- Science functional flight test plan

- Logistics plan

- Mishap Preparedness Contingency Plan (MPCP)

- Authorization for Radiation Frequency Authorization is granted for operation of

SWESARR (DOC-41710/1, SPS-21366/1)

- Any actions items resulting from the NASA Flight Readiness Review (FRR) shall be complied with the vendor.

Note from GPR7900.1 ….4.1.2.4 Deliverables. All discipline deliverables identified in Appendix E, Airworthiness and Flight Safety Oversight Structure for NASA Aircraft, shall be completed, and submitted to the Project Manager, Operations Engineer, and Project Pilot prior to the Flight Readiness Review (FRR).

Once a successful ORR is completed and all action items completed, NASA will issue a Safety of Flight Release, Certificate of Airworthiness, and Approval to Proceed. Flight operations shall not commence until these three documents have been signed and approved by NASA.

NASA Documentation:

The vendor shall comply with the following NASA documents:

- NPR 7900.3D Aircraft Operations Management Manual

- NASA Interim Guide 2021

- 830-FOM-0001 NASA Wallops Flight Facility Flight Operations Manual

- OCHMO-STD-1880.1 NASA Aviation Medical Certification Standards

- GPR 7900.1 Airworthiness and Flight Safety Review Process https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov/displayDir.cfm?Internal_ID=N_PR_7900_003D_&page_name=AppendixA&search_term=Aircraft%20Operations%20Management%20Manual https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ochmo-std-1880.1_nasa_aviation_med_cert_stds_-_signed_7-22-19_0_0.pdf https://elibrary.gsfc.nasa.gov/_assets/doclibBidder/tech_docs/GPR%207900.1.pdf

- NAII xxxxA Airworthiness Review Process for the Eastern Region Airworthiness Review Board (ER-ARB) (Draft)

Items provided by NASA:

NASA will provide the following items in support of the flight campaign:

- All available SWESARR technical documentation available to assist in the installation of the instrument to the aircraft.

- SWESARR shipping to and from vendor’s basecamp facility

- Flight line(s)

- Experiment team to operate the instrument suite

- Mission project management with the exception of flight operation planning

- Anomaly and mishap investigation support.

- Facilitate information needed for optional UW instrument.

- Medical certification documents for all QNCs.

Deliverables:

Any associated documentation, science data, hardware, etc. that are collected, generated, or manufactured/purchased in the execution of this SOW shall be the sole property of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at the conclusion of the contract.

Final Closeout:

This SOW will be considered complete when the SWESARR instrument has been removed from the aircraft and delivered to a shipper at the end of the mission, and all deliverables have been provided to

NASA.

NASA Contacts:

Aircraft Office: NASA Wallops Flight Facility Center Charler Juenger NASA Wallops Flight Facility Center Phone: 757.824.1867 Email: charles.e.juenger@nasa.gov

GSFC SWESARR Contacts:

Batuhan Osmanoglu, Principal Investigator for SWESARR NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Code 618, Building 33, Room G426 Office: 301-614-6690 Cell Phone: 240-917-9031 Email: batuhan.osmanoglu@nasa.gov

Last Update: April 19th, 2022

Appendix

Certification of the Door Radome was performed by FAA Designated Engineer Representative DER Kirk Odian (DERT-605410-NM, Structural Integrity Engineering, 9525 Vassar Ave, Chatsworth, California, United States, (818) 718-2195.