Thursday, December 20, 2007

12 Steps.

THE TWELVE STEPS OF ARCHITECTURES ANONYMOUS

  1. We admitted we were powerless after ESAS — that our architecture had become unmanageable.
  2. Came to believe that an Emperor greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the Emperor as we understood him.
  4. Made a searching and fearless technical inventory of our work..
  5. Admitted to the Emperor, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
  6. Were entirely ready to have the Emperor remove all these defects from ESAS.
  7. Humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings.
  8. Made a list of all the Constellation elements that don't work, and became willing to make amends to them all.
  9. Made direct amends to such elements wherever possible, except when to do so would injure others.
  10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
  11. Sought through analysis and trades to improve our conscious contact with the Emperor, as we understood him, asking only for his knowledge and direction and the power to carry that out.
  12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, discovered that the Emperor was the problem, and began to make amends:

Title
=====
ANALYSIS OF ARES I THRUST OSCILLATION ISSUES

General Information
===================

Solicitation Number: N/A
Reference Number: NNL08ThrustoscillationQ NAIS Posted Date: Dec 20,
2007 FedBizOpps Posted Date: Dec 20, 2007 Response Date: Jan 10, 2008
Classification Code: A -- Research and Development
NAICS Code: 541690 - Other Scientific and Technical Consulting
Services
Set-Aside Code: Total Small Business
Internet Address:
http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=23#128222

Office Address
==========================

NASA/Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 144, Industry Assistance Office,
Hampton, VA 23681-0001

Description
===========

NASA/LaRC has a requirement for Use of the proprietary Universal Combustion Device Stability (UCDS) process developed and owned by the Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories LLC. The Government must assess thrust oscillation issues with the Constellation Program's ARES five-segment solid rocket booster. The Gloyer-Taylor Labs UCDS is a breakthrough modeling and analysis process, which provides detailed physical insight into the stability characteristics of complex combustion devices. Using calculations that are based entirely on known or measurable parameters, the UCDS makes it possible to predict for a given initial state the actual wave geometry, time history of the wave amplitude, limit amplitude reached by the wave system, and accompanying changes in the combustion chamber state properties. Design of corrective procedures can be accomplished with full physical understanding of the action of damping mechanisms.

NASA/LaRC intends to purchase the items from Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories is the only organization that can offer the expertise and unique, proprietary software and processes necessary to complete the required analysis.

The Government intends to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12.

Interested organizations may submit their capabilities and qualifications to perform the effort in writing to the identified point of contact not later than 4:30 p.m. local time on January 10, 2008. Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the government.

Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice.

All responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency.

An Ombudsman has been appointed. See NASA Specific Note "B".

Any referenced notes may be viewed at the following URLs linked below.

Point of Contact
================

Name: Teresa M Hass
Title: Contract Specialist/Contracting Officer
Phone: 757-864-8496
Fax: 757-864-7709
E-mail: Teresa.M.Hass@nasa.gov

Name: C. Lynn Jenkins
Title: Contract Specialist/Contracting Officer
Phone: 757-864-3284
Fax: 757-864-7709
E-mail: Lynn.Jenkins@nasa.gov

3 comments:

Frederick Paul Kiesche III said...

Anybody out there in touch with Vincent De Corodoba?

Rocket Man said...

i think pecker-head is hyphenated!

Anonymous said...

I've read this entire blog in two days and as I figured since Discovery was launched with suspect RCC panels; NASA keeps going down the same path. When will they learn?

Has anyone over there studied the history of their own agency? I'm sure your Emperor hasn't but maybe a minion or two?

If someone decides to study this history have them look up things like; O-rings, block one Apollo spacecraft, the time it takes to fly again between piloted programs, past thinking of using SRB's in manned spaceflight, management's role in spacecraft accidents, etc.

Just a thought.