99--DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSITION IN SUPPORT OF NASA

THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. IT IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. Digital Television (SDTV) transition in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Background and Purpose: The President's Commission on Implementation of U.S. Space Exploration Policy forwarded its report, - A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover to the President on June 4, 2004. In that report, the Commission made a number of recommendations concerning the importance of engaging the public. The full commission report is available on the Internet at http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/60736main_M2M_report_small.pdf . Finding 8 states: "The Commission finds that the space exploration vision offers an extraordinary opportunity to stimulate mathematics, science, and engineering excellence for America's students and teachers - and to engage the public in a journey that will shape the course of human destiny." A powerful resource that can be used to inform, educate and possibly even inspire the American public is NASA Television. NASA TV was created with the Space Shuttle program and was launched with STS-1 in 1981 to provide media and public access to video of mission operations. Using existing satellites that were a part of the Space Shuttle program's communication network, NASA created the television service. Before the Space Shuttle, major television networks and news services contributed resources to provide access to video of NASA missions. This cooperative arrangement ended with the Apollo program, but the creation of NASA Television was seen as a way to both support human spaceflight activities and provide easy public access to video and other media information. Until 1986, the satellite transponder was used solely to support human space flight operations. However, after the Challenger tragedy NASA expanded use of the satellite transponder for additional programming that included press conferences, video-on-demand feeds for electronic news organizations, education programming and internal communications between Headquarters and the agency's 10 field centers. NASA TV is a wholesaler, providing raw material and programming to be repurposed by other retail broadcasters and learning institutions. NASA TV is currently not engineered for general public viewing. Subscriptions services that carry the analog NASA TV satellite signal do so as a public service. Since the analog system is not encrypted - or scrambled to contemporary broadcast standards - anyone with basic C-Band satellite downlink equipment can receive programming. In its recommendation for public engagement, the Commission said NASA needed to employ "new, and even novel means for communicating with the public about space." In an effort to meet the Commission's recommendation, NASA will upgrade the satellite infrastructure that supports the audio and video feeds from the older analog format to Standard Digital Television (SDTV) within the next six months. The transition will allow the Agency to expand services from one analog channel to multiple digital channels, while using the same single satellite transponder. This digital transition is not a new development for the broadcast industry. Most private and public broadcasters already distribute their programming by digital satellite transmission. However, digital broadcasting is new to NASA and will require a transition period to ensure there is no disruption of service to NASA's internal and external audiences. The additional digital channels also offer NASA the opportunity to explore partnerships and programming options currently not available as part of the older analog infrastructure. As NASA moves forward with upgrading the broadcasting infrastructure, the Agency wants to make the best use of the additional resources provided by migrating to multiple digital signals. As a result, NASA has issued this Request for Information (RFI). This RFI seeks any and all ideas for new and innovative ways to utilize the new digital infrastructure to better communicate NASA's ongoing missions of exploration and discovery to a variety of internal and external audiences. Questions concerning this RFI may be submitted via email no later than December 14, 2004 to Mr. Robert N. Jacobs contact@example.gov. Responses to this RFI should be sent to the address shown below. Responses are due January 15, 2005. Respondents shall provide an electronic submission to contact@example.gov in addition to the hardcopy submission. Responses are limited to 20 pages. An executive summary should be included as part of any response greater than 10 pages. Mr. Robert N. Jacobs Director, News and Multimedia NASA Headquarters 300 E Street SW Washington, D.C. 20546 This document is for information and planning purposes. This document is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response. Respondents will not be notified of the results.