Description
THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. NO PROPOSALS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE. This notice is issued by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to post a Statement of Work to solicit responses from interested parties. This document is for information and planning purposes and to allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition. Mission Overview: The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI) mission will investigate the evolution of Venus’ atmosphere using an architecture designed to optimize science-relevant measurements within the atmosphere through a chemistry probe and on targeted remote sensing flybys. The DAVINCI mission will execute two science-guided flybys of Venus and return for a third pass over the planet, dropping an atmospheric probe called Zephyr that will sample gases down to the near surface and, with the Venus Descent Imager (VenDI), obtains series of sub-cloud images for 3D compositional mapping down to sub-meter scale, to understand the role of erosion, tectonics, and water on surface geology. The first flyby (January 2030) will acquire primary science and the second flyby (November 2030) completes the baseline remote sensing mission. During the third flyby (June 2031), the Probe Flight System (PFS) is released from the Spacecraft and coasts for 2 days (48hrs) to allow the Spacecraft to conduct maneuvers in preparation to verify and allow communication during the Zephyr descent. As Zephyr begins its entry, mass-spectrometers, i.e., the Venus Mass Spectrometer (VMS) and the Venus Tunable Laser Spectrometer (VTLS), will conduct in-situ chemistry measurements of the Venus atmosphere and imaging of the surface during the ~1hr descent with the data relayed to Earth through the overflying Spacecraft, the Carrier Relay Imaging Spacecraft (CRIS) The PFS consists of the Entry System (ES) and the Zephyr (the Descent System). The Zephyr houses the probe avionics, instruments, thermal systems, communication systems power systems and the internal mechanical structure that, when successfully integrated and tested, makes the mission possible. Within the Zephyr, two (2) beryllium decks, the fwd-instrument deck and the aft-battery deck will house the aforementioned instruments, systems and hardware. Once fully integrated, Zephyr will be able to answer questions about atmospheric formation and evolution of habitable zone planets, including the timing and rate of volcanic out-gassing in the past and present that can only be addressed through in situ measurements of key noble gases and nitrogen constituents, never before adequately measured on Venus. The Zephyr beryllium decks ( subject of the RFI ) will provide the structural and thermal management to accomplish this complex and challenging mission. SEE ATTACHED FOR GENERAL TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS.