Procurement of Fabric and Plastic Specimen Testing Services

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Shared Services Center is procuring fabric and plastic specimen testing services to support NASA's Artemis Suit Material (ASM) Project. The vendor will conduct tensile, tear, puncture, and stiffness testing on prototype lunar suit fabrics under controlled temperature conditions (ambient at 23.0°C, hot at 121.0°C, and cryogenic at -196.0°C) using a United Testing System (UTS) STN-100KN system and following four ASTM standards (D4032-08, D2261-13, F1342/F1342M-05, and D5035-14). The scope includes sample inspection and documentation, specimen dimension verification, temperature conditioning with 30-minute stabilization periods, and data collection of minimum 100 data points per test with force and temperature logging. NASA intends to issue a sole source contract to PMIC under FAR 12.102(a) authority, as PMIC has been determined to be the sole provider of these specialized testing services. The deadline for interested organizations to submit written capabilities and qualifications is 3:00 p.m. Central Standard Time on April 23, 2026, to Cara Craft at cara.s.craft@nasa.gov, with the Government's decision to proceed with sole source or full and open competition remaining at its sole discretion.

This procurement carries no set-aside designation and identifies PMIC of Corvallis, Oregon as the incumbent sole source contractor. The period of performance is six months following Authority to Proceed (ATP), with work performed on an as-needed basis as the ASM Team provides specimens. Deliverables consist of a final report containing test result tables and photographs for each specimen and test type, along with photographs and videos of test setups and results. The NAICS code for this service is 541380 (Testing Laboratories and Services), and the PSC code is AJ11 (General Science and Technology R&D Services). Performance will be located at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas 77058, with no travel expenses required or included in the contract scope.