Evaluations, Assessments, Studies, Services, and Support 3 (EASSS 3)

UPDATE (21 Jan 20): Please see the newly attached answers to questions received regarding the future solicitation. UPDATE (10 Jan 20): NASA is anticipating hosting a pre-proposal conference on or about mid-to-late February 2020 after the RFP release. UPDATE (19 Dec 19): The new estimated final RFP release date is on or about mid-February 2020. UPDATE (6 Dec 19): Please see the newly attached answers to questions received in response to the Sources Sought. In addition, please see the newly attached and revised Limitation of Future Contracting clause in conjunction with the Q&A document. The attached clause is the anticipated clause language that will be included in the solicication and resultant contract for EASSS 3. It provides clarity to the initial Sources Sought Notice language and prior Limitation of Future Contracting clause revision. Finally, please continue to follow and monitor this notice for future details about this requirement. Thank you. UPDATE (29 Nov 19): Please see the newly attached answers to questions received in response to the Sources Sought. UPDATE (20 Nov 19): Please see the newly attached and revised Limitation of Future Contracting clause. The attached clause is the anticipated clause language that will be included in the solicication and resultant contract for EASSS 3. It provides clarity to the initial Sources Sought Notice language and revises the current EASSS 2 Limitation of Future Contracting clause. NASA is particularly interested in any industry feedback on this clause language. In addition, NASA is increasingly likely to forgo a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for this requirement. Therefore, Sections B-J of the current EASSS 2 contract (NNL15AA02B) are attached for reference as NASA does not anticipate any material changes to the structure or content of Sections B-J in the EASSS 3 solicitation and contract. All minor differences between the attached and current EASSS 2 contract, i.e. date changes, were made in an effort to avoid confusion. NASA welcomes any and all feedback. UPDATE (14 Nov 19): Due to FBO/betaSAM transition issues, the subject Sources Sought response deadline has been extended to no later than 2:00 PM EST on 5 December 2019. This sources sought notice is issued by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) as a means of conducting market research to identify potential sources for a follow-on procurement to the Science Office for Mission Assessments (SOMA) support contract entitled "Evaluations, Assessments, Studies, Services, and Support 2" (NNL15AA02B). The results of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement, including whether the requirement can be set aside for small business. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541715, Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology), with a size standard of 1,000 employees. The Science Office for Mission Assessments (SOMA) is located at NASA Langley Research Center and is responsible for the management and oversight of evaluations, assessments, and studies for the NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate (SMD). The scope of this contract will include evaluations, assessments, studies, services, and support for SOMA, other NASA organizations, and other Government agencies as designated in individual task orders. Interested offerors/vendors shall submit a capability statement depicting required capabilities in the following areas: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: NASA is very interested in industry feedback regarding conflict of interest (COI) and limitations of future contracting. NASA anticipates inclusion of NFS Clause 1852.209-71 Limitation of Future Contracting. Comments and discussion about the COI and limitation of future contracting requirements will not be subject to the page limitation. Interested offerors/vendors are advised that the resulting solicitation will contain stringent requirements concerning avoiding/mitigating/neutralizing Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI), avoiding/mitigating/neutralizing Personal Conflict of Interest (PCI), non-disclosure of sensitive and proprietary information, and limitations on future contracting. These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. The successful Contractor will be precluded from participating in any capacity, in support of a respondent, in any solicitations where it will be providing evaluative services under this contract. 2. The Contractor will be ineligible to perform on any work arising from, or related to, any proposal evaluation, assessment, or study on which it performed these services, except as required in performance of this contract. The Contractor may propose to SMD Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs), Announcements of Opportunity (AOs), and grants that do not arise from or have not been part of the work performed under this contract. 3. To the extent that the work under this contract requires access to proprietary, sensitive, business confidential, or financial data of other companies or the Government, and as long as the data remain proprietary, sensitive, or confidential, the Contractor will be required to protect the data from unauthorized use and disclosure. The Contractor will be required to agree not to use the data for any other purpose including, but not limited to, competing for future work. Potential offerors/vendors are advised that a firewall cannot be used to mitigate OCI. Consequently, the selected offeror/vendor will be restricted from pursuing other work outside of this contract that would cause an OCI during the performance of this contract. EVALUATIONS: Proposal/Concept Study Report (CSR) evaluations are conducted in accordance with the NASA Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Supplement PART 1872 ACQUISITION OF FLIGHT INVESTIGATIONS. Evaluations for multiple solicitations may overlap, which will require staffing of a large number (275 or greater) of panel positions simultaneously. These panels will include a large number of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). A typical evaluation task order requires the Contractor to staff one panel, which may comprise multiple sub-panels, with expert panel/sub-panel leads, full members, and specialist members to evaluate proposals/CSRs for space science missions/investigations, the results of which will play an integral role in selection/down-selection (KDP A/KDP B) decisions by NASA SMD. Acquisition Webpages for recent solicitations and a planning list for applicable SMD solicitations are available at https://soma.larc.nasa.gov/. Each panel member evaluates their assigned proposals/CSRs and submits individual initial evaluation comments via a NASA-provided secure web site. The panel engages in a series of web conferences and/or telecons over a specified period of time to draft strengths and weaknesses findings based on the applicable evaluation criterion or criteria defined in the solicitation. The draft findings are then posted on the NASA-provided secure web site. All panel members gather together physically to discuss evaluation findings at a plenary evaluation meeting/meetings. In the case of CSR evaluations, a site visit for each submitted CSR, comprising two full days over three days and two nights, will require participation by roughly half of the panel members. Panel members will be polled on the overall risk ratings or grades for each proposal/CSR at the plenary/final plenary meeting. ASSESSMENTS: Assessments are typically independent reviews of missions/investigations and programs that evaluate progress at major milestones in accordance with specified procedures (e.g., NPR 7123.1B, NPR 7120.5E, NASA/SP-2016-3706/REV B, etc.). Assessments include analyzing technical, management, cost, schedule, and other aspects of SMD missions/investigations and programs, as well as other NASA missions/investigations and programs. STUDIES: Studies are typically analyses where the conclusions or recommendations may affect assessments and proposal evaluations. Studies include analyzing management, scientific, technical, cost, schedule, and other aspects of SMD missions/investigations and programs, as well as other NASA missions/investigations and programs. LOGISTICS, FACILITIES AND INFORMATION SUPPORT: The Contractor will be required to provide logistics, facilities, and information support necessary to perform evaluations, assessments, and studies as required by individual task orders. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS: The Contractor will be required to maintain a Facility Clearance at the Top Secret level with no safeguarding required. The Contractor work will require access to classified information at a Government or other applicable facility to be identified on the Department of Defense Contract Security Classification Specification, DD Form 254. Interested offerors/vendors having the required specialized capabilities should submit a Capability Statement of no more than eight (8) pages (including attachments) with a minimum font size of 12. The Capability Statement should indicate the offeror's/vendor's ability and experience in performing the aspects of the effort described above. Please include a specific example (or examples) of the offeror's/vendor's experience and contracts with services similar to the EASSS 3 requirement. It is requested that the following be included in the eight (8)-page limit: a) Name and address of firm; b) Point of Contact information to include name, title, phone number, and email address; c) Whether you intend to submit an offer, and if so, would you submit as a prime or subcontractor; d) Size of business concern and date the size designation is good through (large, small, 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone, small disadvantaged, woman-owned small business); e) Affiliate information to include parent company, joint venture partners, potential teaming partners, prime contractor (if potential sub), or subcontractors (if potential prime); and f) Explain your understanding of the scope of work and capability to perform, including prior experience as a prime or sub, and how this work relates to NASA's requirement. g) List of relevant experience by identifying contract numbers, technical description/scope, contract type, dollar value of each procurement, and point of contact with email, physical address and phone number, and the role your company played. h) Whether your company has the required facility clearance and whether you can provide/obtain cleared personnel. Additionally, a draft Statement of Work is attached. NASA is considering forgoing a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) for this requirement. Therefore, industry is encouraged to provide comments, questions, and recommendations regarding the draft Statement of Work. In addition, LaRC is interested in feedback related to suggestions for contract type and subcontracting opportunities. The estimated final RFP release date is on or about January 2020. The estimated award date for this contract is on or about July/August 2020. NASA anticipates awarding a cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract with an estimated duration of five years. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. The Government will not pay for the information solicited. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the evaluation. Respondents deemed fully qualified will be considered in any resulting solicitation for the requirement. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized in FedBizOpps. It is the responsibility of potential offerors/vendors to monitor these sites for the release of any solicitation or synopsis. All responses and questions shall be submitted in writing, via email, to larc-easss3@mail.nasa.gov no later than 2:00 PM EST on 5 December 2019. Please reference EASSS 3 Sources Sought in the subject line of your response.