Sole Source Award to MIT-HO USNO Washington Very Long Baseline interferometry (VLBI) Correlator Support Services.

NAVSUP Fleet Logistic Center Norfolk, Philadelphia Office intends to acquire Engineering and Maintenance Services on a sole source basis with the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, Haystack Observatory (MIT-HO) for the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) Washington Very Long Baseline interferometry (VLBI) Correlator. The contractor will provide engineering support for USNO DiFX Interagency Correlator. The correlator is essential for meeting the mission requirement of providing Hi-Precision Earth Orientation for the Department of Defense, (DOD). The interagency VLBI correlator at USNO has been a fundamental infrastructure for space geodesy since it began operations in 1986. That (Mark III A) hardware correlator was designed and constructed by MIT/HO, who has been providing engineering support to USNO ever since. Support has covered the various hardware correlator updates and upgrades, such as to Mark IV, as well as the more recent (in the 2010s) transition from hardware to software correlation (SWC), such as to the distributed FX-type correlation (DiFX). The primary purpose of the correlator at USNO is to support rapid turnaround of geodetic VLBI observations to provide the most timely and accurate values for time-varying Earth orientation parameters (EOP) such as the length of the day and polar motion. These observations are also used to estimate the positions of the extragalactic radio sources that define the celestial reference frame (CRF) and the positions (and velocities) of the radio telescopes that define the terrestrial reference frame (TRF), being the EOP the parameters that link the two frames together. The Contractor will provide assistance and support to USNO for post-correlation programs for both legacy and VGOS data, for post-processing requiring special attention, for electronic VLBI capabilities, and in the general area of VLBI data storage and transfer. There are six main elements within this engineering support requirement. Haystack Observatory Post-Processing system (HOPS) and difx2mark4 post-correlation support: The contractor shall provide consultation for network connections at USNO and at Kokee Park Geophysical Observatory (KPGO), Hawaii, related to all VLBI activity. In particular, the contractor shall troubleshoot electronic VLBI (eVLBI) connections into USNO, troubleshoot eVLBI connections to network stations, assist with improving network connectivity to KPGO, and assist with improving network connectivity within KPGO. Consultation of special processing: The contractor shall support situations that arise where unusually complex geodetic experiments, especially as USNO transitions to correlation of VGOS experiments, must be processed, or where difficulties encountered during the VLBI data collection experiments may need special treatment during processing. MIT/HO shall then consult with the processing personnel at USNO and advise them, via remote (e.g., telephone, email, audio/video) communication, on approaches to overcome the complex or difficult situations, and on diagnosing problems at the VLBI stations. Assistance with electronic-VLBI capability: The contractor shall provide support and consultation for network connections at USNO and at Kokee Park Geophysical Observatory (KPGO), Hawaii, related to all VLBI activity. Data storage and transfer: The contractor shall responsible for maintaining a VLBI data depot, temporarily storing and validating data prior to submittal to the DiFX correlator servers at USNO. The storage will thus act as a buffer for eVLBI transfers from potentially compromised sources. 6. Mark6 support :Update of the USNO Mark6 operating systems (OS) to RedHat, or an equivalent, to meet security needs. Program management: The contractor shall manage all MIT-related contractual activities, communicate with USNO, and ensure sufficient attention to system engineering, documentation, configuration management, and information technology (IT) security. The initial period of performance will be twelve continuous months from 30 April 2021. There are four twelve-month optional periods associated with this requirement.