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BACKGROUND NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a commercial item solution that meets or exceeds the following draft minimum specifications: CLIN 0001: The Contrac... BACKGROUND NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a commercial item solution that meets or exceeds the following draft minimum specifications: CLIN 0001: The Contractor shall provide an Optical Telescope Assembly (OTA) that meets Requirements as follows: The telescope design shall be optimized for radiometry and spectroscopy. Light from an artificial star at 100 m and light from a natural star at infinity is delivered into an on-axis optical fiber, which directs light into a spectrometer. The telescope type (e.g., Ritchey-Chretien, Dahl-Kirkham etc.) is unconstrained; but telescope will be used for on-axis spectroscopy of stars so optimizing imaging quality over a wide field of view is not necessary. The minimum field of view is less than 10 arcminutes. The Government will provide a focusing assembly to accommodate focus position changes between the natural star and the artificial star (Section VI 1 Optical Cross Assembly and Requirement 15). Therefore, the telescope itself need not have Contractor-provided moveable parts to accommodate the focus change The optical telescope assembly shall interface with the Optical Cross Assembly. The telescope design shall be optimized for astronomical spectroscopic measurements between 850 nm and 2500 nm and meet optical requirements at 1800 nm. Primary mirror diamter may not exceed 508 mm (20 inches, clear aperture) The minimum acceptable primary mirror diameter is 432mm (17 inches) with preference for a size that is standard for the Contractor. The central hole diameter is determined by the need to not clip light in the presence of baffles from either an artificial or natural star. The maximum (linear) obscuration (ratio of secondary mirror diameter to primary mirror diameter) shall not exceed 40%. The mirror surface roughness shall be less than 10 nm RMS (root mean square) or the industry standard for reflecting telescopes at visible wavelengths, which ever is less. The primary mirror base shall have a low coefficient of thermal expansion. (Section VI. X) Primary and secondary mirror coatings shall be protected aluminum. The optical telescope assembly shall be stable at the expected operating temperature and humidity on Cerro Paranal: Operating temperature between -10 and 40 degrees C. Operating humidity between 0% and 20% relative humidity The telescope mirrors shall meet storage temperature requirements: range between -10 C and +60 degrees C The optical fiber is provided by the Government. It has a core diameter of 600 micrometers and an NA (numerical aperture) of 0.22, an outer diameter of 6 mm and a bend radius of 50 mm. The telescope design shall be compatible with the optical fiber in the following manner: The telescope shall have an f/# such that rays are not clipped on the receiving surface of the optical fiber. The NIST-provided optical fiber will be located at the output of the Optical Cross Assembly. The telescope shall have an aperture mask that defines the entrance pupil at a definite, planar location at the front of the telescope. This defining aperture shall have a knife-like edge to define the beam cross section. The knife edge shall have a land that is minimally practical within the machining limitations, and the aperture shall be beveled on the side facing the telescope interior. The aperture shall provide a shadow margin no smaller than 4 mm from the primary perimeter, central obscuration, and central obscuration supports. (As a result, all incident light from a star shall only be incident on the entrance aperture and primary.) Locations of the primary perimeter, central obscuration, and central obscuration supports shall be knowable, so that one can determine definite distance between the telescope entrance aperture and the exit aperture of the artificial star to 10 cm over 100 meters This defining aperture shall be field-replaceable by the user. The surface of the defining aperture that faces inward to the telescope shall have a diffuse black coating like the baffles to capture stray light A schematic figure of the aperture mask is shown in Section VI. An offset of 10 arcsec from the optical axis shall result in a change of less than 0.2% in throughput into a 600-micrometer core diameter optical fiber. Control of stray light is critical for radiometry. Stray light requirements are: No more than 0.01% of the total light entering the fiber shall be light from points or angles outside the field of view. The baffle design must be such that when back illuminating the fiber, 99.99% of the total light seen by the virtual detector comes from within the field of view. For example, the baffles should block annular rings of light such as could be generated by light scattering off interior walls. The Contractor shall provide their optical design to NIST NIST will verify by analysis that stray light requirements are met. The OTA shall include the primary and secondary mirrors, mechanical supports for the primary mirror and primary mirror cell, primary mirror cover, secondary mirror cell, secondary mirror support, baffles, aperture mask, and interface plate for the Optical Cross Assembly to be supplied by NIST. An open truss is preferred over a closed tube The Contractor shall provide a primary mirror cover For an open truss tube, the mirror cover shall be directly above the primary mirror and be mechanically controlled (preferred) For a closed tube, the mirror cover shall be above the aperture mask, and be at least manually removable by the user. Interface to NIST-supplied Optical Cross Assembly (OCA) See Section VI. 1 for a description of the OCA. The Contractor shall provide an Interface Plate fixed at the rear of the telescope to enable NIST to mount the OCA. The normal to the interface plate shall be parallel to the telescope optical axis. The plate must include a hole to allow the optical beam to pass through. The thickness of the interface plate shall be at least 0.375 inches. NIST will provide the physical dimensions and mechanical details of the OCA to the Contractor to enable design of the interface plate. NIST will provide the optical properties of the beam splitter to the Contractor. The back working distance of the telescope, defined as the distance along the optical axis between the back surface of the Interface Plate and the location of the telescope focus for an object at infinity, shall be at least 123 millimeters. The Contractor shall provide NIST with their estimate of the difference in focal position along the optical axis for natural star vs. artificial star during the design phase, to ensure the NIST-supplied OCA focus mechanism can accommodate the position shifts. The top-level optical performance requirements of the OTA are: At the focus for a natural star at infinity at a wavelength of 1800 nm, the encircled energy of the image within a 600-micrometer diameter circle in the focal plane normal to the optical axis shall contain at least 98.5 % of the total energy at that plane. At the focus for a 1-mm diameter uniform source (the artificial star) placed 100 m from the entrance aperture of the telescope, the encircled energy of the image within a 600-micrometer diameter circle in the focal plane normal to the optical axis shall contain at least 98.5 % of the total energy at that plane, at a wavelength of 1800 nm. When properly focused for each of the two sources defined above, the change of encircled energy within a 600-micrometer diameter circle in the focal plane normal to the optical axis shall be less than 0.15 % at a wavelength of 1800 nm. These optical requirements apply to the OTA plus OCA. The optical prescription of the OCA beam splitter will be provided by NIST during the Contractor design process. NIST will provide the Contractor with the design for mounting the OCA. The mechanical design must allow for sufficient space behind the primary mirror cell to locate the optical cross assembly (see 15). This space must be easily accessible and without mechanical interference from other components. Before the hardware build, the Contractor shall provide NIST their predictions for the change of encircled energy for a point source at infinity and an artificial star at 100 m when the telescope is properly focused, for 12 wavelengths evenly spaced between and including 850 nm and 2500 nm. Analysis must be supported by a full optical chain prescription, including all parts that affect light propagation. CLIN 0002: The Contractor shall provide a Telescope Mount that meets the Requirements as follows: The Mount must support the OTA described in CLIN 0001 plus the weight of the NIST-supplied OCA, estimated to be 20 kg. The Contractor shall provide minimum bend radius that would be induced in a fiber run through the Mount. The Contractor shall provide an equatorial mount for Cerro Paranal's latitude of 24.6272 degrees South. A fork mount is preferred CLIN 0003: The Contractor shall provide Motion Control for the telescope mount that meets Requirements as follows: The telescope shall point 10 degrees below the horizon, and to and through the zenith without mechanical deformation or changes that affect the above specifications in Section CLIN 0001. The motion control shall provide pointing and tracking accuracy capability as follows: Pointing accuracy: ?10 arcsec RMS Tracking accuracy: < 0.1 arcsec during a 30-second period. The motion control shall provide motion range to allow sky coverage as follows: Altitude Range: -10 to 90 degrees Azimuth Range: +/- 360 degrees The Contractor shall provide a software interface to telescope control software via e.g., an Application Programming Interface (API). The Contractor’s software shall allow system state metadata to be accessible to the user. The Contractor’s software shall allow the user to specify telescope pointing to objects below the horizon (for calibration by viewing the artificial star). The Contractor’s software shall allow user to point telescope to any specified objects with the option of no refraction correction (e.g., objects near the horizon). The Contractor shall provide an alignment/collimation kit CLIN 0004: The Contractor shall provide training on installation for CLINs 0001 – 0003 in accordance with the following: NIST will prepare the telescope site on Cerro Paranal in Chile; this includes the concrete telescope pad and pier for placing the mount, and the telescope enclosure. Details of the pier-to-mount interface will be discussed with Contractor at telescope design review. The Contractor will ship the optical telescope assembly (OTA) to NIST in Gaithersburg for calibration. NIST will be responsible for then shipping the telescope to Cerro Paranal, Chile and for its installation on the site. It is preferred that the Contractor install the telescope system at the NIST site on Cerro Paranal, Chile. In lieu of contractor installation, the Contractor shall provide training for NIST personnel (see Section VII) at Contractor's worksite on installation procedures. NIST will pay for NIST staff travel to Contractor's site. HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORRMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response: Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact specialist listed at the bottom of this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice. Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI). Identify laboratory equipment that your company sells that is of the nature addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice. Include brand name, make, model, and/or other distinguishing information. State if your company is the manufacturer of the identified equipment or is a retailer or wholesaler that normally sells the identified equipment. If the latter, indicate whether the manufacturer authorized in writing for your company to sell the identified equipment on behalf of the manufacturer. Describe performance capabilities and relevant or beneficial physical and functional features for any equipment you identified to satisfy the NIST-identified minimum specifications described in this notice. Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section above that could be viewed as unduly restrictive or contain unnecessary barriers that adversely affect your ability to fully participate and indicate why. In such a scenario, please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more inclusive and competitive. Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization. For the NAICS code listed in this notice: Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business. See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information. If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement. Describe services that are available with the purchase of the aforementioned equipment from your company such as installation, training, and equipment maintenance. Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the aforementioned equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms: manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services. Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available. State published price, discount or rebate arrangements for aforementioned equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services. State whether the aforementioned equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured. If the aforementioned equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information. Identify any customers in the public or private sectors in which you provided the aforementioned or similar equipment. Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address. Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement. State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment. IMPORTANT NOTES The information received in response to this notice will be reviewed and considered so that NIST may appropriately solicit for its requirements in the near future. This notice should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotations. No award will be made as a result of this notice. NIST is not responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and appropriate. Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!