A--PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY FOR THE MOLSAM

The proposal opportunity is to the NASA Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for Mars Scout. This partnership opportunity document (POD) provides a description of MOLSAM, a scientific mission to locate and measure water on Mars. MOLSAM is a Martian orbiter with dual active sensing instruments and a requirement for precision pointing and navigation. This POD has two options for teaming partners; 1) the MOLSAM spacecraft, 2)a microwave Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument. Responders may propose a partnership to provide one or both of the options. Proposals for each option should be submitted separately and will be evaluated separately. The offerors chosen will participate directly as a member of the proposal team in the various stages of the MOLSAM Mars Scout mission design and proposal process. NASA Mars Scout Program Status: The draft Mars Scout AO was released January 5, 2006. Release of the Mars Scout AO has been tentatively scheduled for April 2006, with proposals due July 2006. The draft AO and additional information can be found on the webpage located at: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/solicitations.do?method=future&stack=pu sh. Additional Information on the Mars Scout opportunity can be found at: http://mars-scout.larc.nasa.gov/marslib.html. The response should be limited to 10 pages in not less than 12-point font, submitted as an electronic PDF document. Excluded from the page count are the cover letter, title pages, table of contents and page for the acronyms list. Offerors are free to attach additional appendices that further describe their capabilities. However, only the required 10 pages will be evaluated for selection. The respondents shall deliver the requested information in a report. Reports must be received by 5pm EST on the due date, which is February 27, 2006. Please provide a hardcopy and an electronically formatted presentation (Word, PPT, or PDF formats) to Betsy Park (contact@example.gov or Code 400, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771). Responses will be treated as proprietary information and controlled as such. Your written offer package shall include discussion of the following: - The approaches for supporting the MOLSAM Step 1 proposal and the MOLSAM phase A concept study. - The ability to meet the MOLSAM schedule as defined in this document. - The demonstration of a clear understanding of the technical challenges for the MOLSAM spacecraft and mission. - The preliminary concept for the option elements - Any unique capabilities, facilities, or experience with this type of mission - A Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimate and schedule The requested information through this POD is for preliminary planning purposes only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that NASA will solicit the submitter for a procurement of any related effort in the future. NASA will not be responsible for any costs incurred by submitters in furnishing this information. This solicitation/synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for the information solicited. An ombudsman has been appointed. See Internet Note - B. The documents for this partnership opportunity will be in Microsoft Office Suite (Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, or PowerPoint 4.0) format and will reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The WWW address, or URL, of the NASA/GSFC Business Opportunities home page is http://procurement.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=C&pin=51. It is the offerors responsibility to monitor this cite for the release of the Partnership Opportunity Document and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the Partnership Opportunity Document and amendments, if any. Any referenced notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasanote.html.