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National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Seeks Interest in Providing a Site Location (Real Estate) for the Construction of a Mars Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) in the Contiguous United S... National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Seeks Interest in Providing a Site Location (Real Estate) for the Construction of a Mars Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) in the Contiguous United States Market Research / Request for Information Description PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION ANNOUNCEMENT. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION SYNOPSIS ISSUED ONLY TO CONDUCT MARKET RESEARCH. NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC) is soliciting information for a potential site location (real estate) in the contiguous United States for the construction of a Mars Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) – as outlined in the “Project Background and Context” pages later in this survey. NASA/JSC is seeking information and responses to questions from all interested parties with existing or planned high-containment facilities within the U.S. and companies from all socioeconomic categories including but not limited to Small Businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority Institutions (MI), and members of the underserved communities as defined by Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity And Support For Underserved Communities Through The Federal Government, for the purposes of understanding capabilities and determining the appropriate level of competition and/or small business subcontracting goals for a future MSR SRF site location in the contiguous United States. The Government reserves the right to consider a Small, 8(a), Women-owned (WOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran (SD-VOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women-owned Small Business (EDWOSB), or HUBZone set-aside based on responses received. The Government may also consider businesses other than small. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 53- Real Estate and Rental and Leasing. No solicitation exists; therefore, do not request a copy of the solicitation. Interested firms are responsible for monitoring SAM.gov for the release of any solicitations or synopses. There will be no site visit associated with this Request for Information. Interested parties having the required real estate necessary to execute the requirements described/attached herein are encouraged to provide responses to questions about your company/institution/entity, ability for partnership with NASA by filling out the associated QUESTIONNAIRE. All responses shall be submitted electronically via to the email address no later than 5:00 PM Central Standard Time (UTC-05:00) on Friday, April 7, 2023. Respondents can ensure their responses have been received by NASA via an automatically generated email confirming receipt of your submission. This request for information will be used solely for information planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this Request for Information are not offers and cannot be accepted by NASA to form a binding contract. NASA is under no obligation to issue a solicitation or to award any contract based on this Request for Information. The information provided in response to this Request for Information will not be made public. Respondents and/or interested firms should avoid and exclude any classified, confidential, privileged, and/or proprietary information in their responses. The recipients reserve the right to use any non-proprietary technical information gleaned from responses to this Request for Information in potential, resultant solicitation(s). The recipients will not pay for the information solicited. Respondents will not be notified of the results of the Request for Information announcement. All requirements and future project descriptions identified herein are tentative and will be finalized prior to the release of any solicitation for quotations. The information provided is entirely voluntary and will not affect the ability to bid on future solicitations. NASA may utilize the information provided by respondents in developing an acquisition strategy for future potential solicitations. The information resulting from this Request for Information may be included in one or more solicitations. Please note: Respondents should note that by submitting a response to this request, NASA, other Government Agencies, and support contractors will be able to review each Respondent’s information. Potential respondents should submit only information that can be made available to those parties. Support contractors will not perform inherently governmental tasks such as decisions related to the future solicitation(s). To responds to RFI, please see associated QUESTIONAIRE for Survey Questions. Answers should be submitted within the template provided for assessment. Supplementary Information Project Background and Context Mars Sample Return Campaign Background The planned Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign includes activities for the in situ analysis on Mars, collection and retrieval of samples, and the transportation of those sample to Earth for detailed investigation. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have created an international partnership for MSR. While the extent and scope of this partnership continue to be defined under a formal Memorandum of Understanding, substantial planning work has been initiated. The current baseline campaign includes three flight missions and one ground mission component. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover landed in early 2021 and is collecting samples of Mars for potential future return to Earth. The samples that have been and will be acquired by the Perseverance rover vary in type and character and may include regolith/dust and breccias, sediments, carbonates and hydrated minerals, crater floor material, igneous rocks, and Martian atmosphere. Although more will be collected, the baseline sample return recovery and flight systems are capable of transporting about 30 Martian sample tubes back to Earth, containing a total of ~500 g of Martian material. After launch into Martian orbit via a lander that collects and packages the sample tubes on a Mars ascent vehicle, and a series of sterilization and isolation steps to meet Planetary Protection (PP) requirements for Category V Restricted Earth Return missions, the Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) would then return to the vicinity of Earth. It is anticipated that the ERO would approach Earth no earlier than 2033 and release the Earth Entry System (EES) for ballistic reentry through Earth’s atmosphere and landing, tentatively at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR). Upon recovery, the EES would be placed in biosafety containment and transferred to the SRF. SRF Goals and Requirements The SRF ground segment of this campaign would allow for initial opening of the sample tubes within high containment, and initial assessment of the returned Martian material. As part of the initial investigation, a sample safety assessment will be performed to determine whether the samples are free of potential biological hazards, prior to the release of samples to analytical and curation facilities outside of containment. This SRF must offer both cleanroom and high-containment capabilities. Activities in the SRF would include receiving the EES, accessing the samples, conducting a sample safety assessment, and performing initial characterization and cataloging. Potential further activities would also include executing select scientific analyses and providing for a transition to long-term curation and storage. Traditional curation of extraterrestrial samples has previously been completed using cleanroom conditions; the MSR curation would additionally require biosafety containment at a high level of confidence. Due to Planetary Protection requirements and the possibility that these samples could contain an unknown biohazard that poses a potential public health or environmental concern, the facility in which these samples are initially examined is provisionally thought to be Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) or BSL-4 equivalent. If these samples are deemed abiotic (i.e., absent of life) and safe for release, a more traditional clean (uncontained) curation facility could be used for long-term handling and storage (for background on sample handling intentions and sample safety assessment see Astrobiology, June 2022). If the samples are not deemed safe for release after the initial sample safety assessment (or the test results are not definitive), then a subset of the samples could be sterilized (and transferred to a traditional clean uncontained curation facility) and/or a subset could remain in biosafety containment until determined safe for release or conserved for future study. In addition to providing high containment, the SRF would need to provide protection from contamination by terrestrial materials. Contamination control requirements for both organic and inorganic material have not yet been finalized. While the Mars 2020 Perseverance Sample Intimate Hardware controlled environment requirement of International Standards Organization (ISO) Class 5 can be used as a reference, the SRF may consider equivalent ISO classifications ranging from ISO 1 to ISO 7. Avoidance of organic contamination is of particular importance since assessing the potential for extraterrestrial life on Mars is one of the primary purposes of the sample collection. If samples are deemed safe for release, or rendered sterilized by an approved technique, the SRF would also be utilized to prepare samples for allocation to outside investigators as well as sample storage (until a long-term curation facility is constructed). The storage environmental conditions that may be required are not yet defined; however, multiple environments may be necessary for the short- and long-term protection of the samples. An ultrapure inert gas environment, such as N2, is envisioned as necessary for the majority of sample storage and manipulation. This facility is intended to support the work of international collaborators and as such would require access capabilities to accommodate these personnel. SRF Activities At the SRF, the samples would be initially received and curated. Activities conducted within the SRF would include (but not be limited to): hardware de-integration; archiving and analyses of the flight hardware; collection, analyses, and curation of dust from the Orbiting Sample container (OS) interior and the tube exteriors; sample tube headspace gas extraction and analyses; extraction of samples from the tubes; the processing of contamination witness materials; initial sample characterization; completion of sample safety assessment; scientific investigations that are time-sensitive and sterilization-sensitive; and, preparation and cataloging of samples for investigations to be conducted in the SRF and in external laboratories. SRF Capabilities Preservation of sample integrity is an overarching goal of the MSR campaign to ensure scientific integrity, maximizing overall scientific value. A key component to this goal is the ability of the SRF to ensure cleanliness, and facilitation of scientific activities to maintain sample integrity by limiting or preventing organic, biological, and inorganic contamination (including gaseous contamination), temperature fluctuations outside determined parameters, and exposure to magnetic fields, while maintaining high containment. Nominal laboratory operations are assumed to be at room temperature, while some cold processing and/or storage of samples may be necessary. These efforts would require or benefit from significant facility and instrumentation capabilities and allowances for the basic characterization, sample safety assessment, and time-sensitive analysis. Though these activities are not fully defined, the SRF may require the following components: Disassembly of spaceflight hardware. Capability to open, evaluate, and store samples under select ultrapure gas(es) or vacuum. Equipment for sample preparation for allocation, including solvent extraction for organic analysis and sectioning or petrographic analysis. Facility accommodation of instrumentation of varying sizes inside high containment and under clean conditions. The number of instruments required is still under discussion, but there are strong arguments for at least 20. Sample preparation equipment needed to support the above instruments. Cleanliness technology, including suitable environment, personnel, logistics, processes, and equipment for sample handling and manipulation. Ability to conduct time-sensitive scientific measurements on the samples. Long-term storage for a subset of samples (if samples cannot be deemed safe). The facility be commissioned by 2031 to support two years of preparation for a 2033 return of samples. SRF Anticipated Site Location Requirements SRF is anticipated to be a NASA government-owned laboratory with civil servant management and operated by contractor support. SRF with high containment (BSL-4 equivalent) cleanroom space has an anticipated floor plan range from 15,000 to 40,000 net SF of BSL-4 type space. SRF constructed building gross space has an anticipated range from 110,000 SF to 300,000 SF. Estimated real estate/land of 1.5 to 5.0 acres.* Space sufficient to house 100-200 staff. Parking for 125 to 250 vehicles and large delivery trucks (approximately 40,000 to 120,000 SF; 0.9 to 2.75 acres).* Gross estimated real estate (land) needed is 2.5 to 10.0 acres (109,000 to 436,000 SF).* Potable Water nearby. Sewer nearby. Power nearby. Space for a 20,000 gallon Liquid Nitrogen Tank and Tank farm (5,000 SF; 0.11 acres). Low risk for natural disaster or be able to use proven construction methods to mitigate against catastrophic natural events (e.g., earthquake, hurricane, tornado/wind, flooding, wildfire, etc.). Secure perimeter that meets U.S. Embassy level requirements Near an international airport for international partners. Security requirements to allow for full international partner participation. Skilled local workforce to utilize during SRF operations (e.g., scientific, building operations). * Not an exclusionary qualification Current Government Studies The NASA Mars Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) Assessment Study (MSAS) awarded three architectural and engineering (A&E) firms with funding to conduct an assessment that is intended to generate information that will inform the selection of facility modalities for high-level conceptual design development. This assessment has focused on SRF requirements for accommodating curation and science infrastructure. The results will inform the selection of the modality that will facilitate moving forward with the conceptual designs and then site-specific designs. As a part of this contract, the A&E firms will: 1) complete the assessment(s), 2) compile the results and provide a findings report, with recommendations for the Government for analysis and action. The specific study information and results of these contracts will not be available for this RFI. The SRF requires both high containment (Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4)-equivalent) and cleanliness/contamination control capabilities for all Martian material. This is to ensure that the materials are not released until demonstrated to be safe, and the samples kept pristine, free of terrestrial contamination, to allow for accurate scientific analysis. For the MSAS, the A&E firms have been assessing the following facility modalities for the high-containment laboratory space, including: Lease and renovation of existing space BSL-4 laboratory space, Construction of a traditional fixed BSL-4 laboratory, Construction of a modular (volumetric) BSL-4 laboratory Construction or renovation of a hybrid facility to address requirements with multiple modalities that may include a combination of modalities 1-3. NASA anticipates conclusion of this Phase 1 study and modality down select as soon as mid-2023. MSR Campaign Science Group (MCSG) [Astrobiology June 2022]: An MSR Campaign Science Group (MCSG), co-chaired by the NASA and ESA MSR Lead Scientists, is assisting the NASA and ESA Lead Scientists in the development of potential science requirements. The objective is to ensure effective realization of the vast science potential of sample return activities and the samples returned from Mars by establishing clear processes for sample related decision-makings, and for establishing and maintaining the processes whereby the science community would be involved in returned sample science. The MCSG would also function as a science resource to the MSR flight elements and Earth-based projects related to the samples being returned from Mars. It is anticipated that the MCSG will be implemented in phases as the program transitions from ensuring care of samples acquired on Mars and delivery to Earth, to planning and guiding the investigations of the samples, in concert with curation and Planetary Protection requirements: – Phase 1: Focus on MSR science planning, to interface and inform the development of flight elements and the ground-based science infrastructure and generate opportunities for the science community. – Phase 2: Focus on the implementation of the objective-driven science to be carried out by the MSR returned sample science team. NEPA – Mars Sample Return Campaign [NEPA - Mars Sample Return Campaign | NASA] “Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), as amended, the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA and NASA’s procedures for implementing NEPA, NASA intends to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to identify and analyze potential environmental impacts of the Mars Sample Return (MSR) Campaign Proposed Action and No Action Alternative. Cooperating agencies for this effort include the U.S. Air Force (in accordance with their Environmental Impact Analysis Process), U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Tier I: Site Specific Analysis Flight Elements Tier II: Site Specific Analysis Ground Elements To responds to RFI, please see associated QUESTIONAIRE for Survey Questions. Answers should be submitted within the template provided for assessment.