RECOVERY ARES I UPPER STAGE CONTRACT NNM07AB03C CLIN 6 - AMERICAN RECOVERYAND REINVESTMENT ACT RISK MITIGATION

This is an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 presolicitationnotice which is for informational purposes only, as identified in FAR 5.704.NASA/MSFC has a requirement to accelerate Ares I Upper Stage Design, Development, Test &Evaluation hardware and producibility support efforts necessary to reduce schedule riskunder contract NNM07AB03C. This effort will include the following:a) Procurement of the MSFC Vertical Assembly Tool (VAT).b) Ares I Upper Stage Verification Planning and Analysis.(1) Detailed Verification Objectives (DVO) for Ares I Upper Stage hardware.(2) Test and Verification Requirements (TVR) for tests used to demonstrate performance orqualify Ares I Upper Stage hardware.c) Accelerate preparation for Ares I Upper Stage Critical Design Review (CDR) and DesignCertification Review (DCR) to include stress , loads, and thermal analyses to supportdelivery of engineering products for Ares I Upper Stage CDR and DCR. d) Ares I Upper Stage Manufacturing Process Development.(1) Weld development for Ares I Upper Stage test articles and accelerate training formanufacturing engineers and technicians.(2) Acceleration of thruster module production readiness.e) Accelerated procurement of Ares I Upper Stage CLIN 3 long lead item, Aluminum/Lithium(Al/Li) 2195 ingots, for use in for producing plate to be used in manufacturing elementsof the Ares I Upper Stage.f) Procurement of production tooling for the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF)and MSFC,focusing on tooling for common bulkhead productionNASA/MSFC intends to purchase the above items under contract NNM07AB03C. This actionwill be accomplished under authority of FAR 52.243-2, Changes-Cost Reimbursement. Thisaction does not constitute a new requirement. Competition is impractical for thefollowing reason:a) Boeing is currently under contract and is intimately engaged in ongoing Ares I USPwork. Therefore, to pursue an alternative candidate would be ineffective and disruptiveto the Ares I USP activities.The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12. See Note26.An Ombudsman has been appointed. See NASA Specific Note "B".