Pubblicata una RFP per il sistema di fuga “rollercoaster” dalla rampa dei futuri Ares I.
Il sistema deve essere in grado di mettere in salvo almeno 15 persone “sane” in meno di 2 minuti e almeno nove persone in condizioni di incapacità motoria.
Il tutto considerando gli astronauti vestiti con le tute, il personale di rampa con le tute ignifughe e tutto il personale di terra in abbigliamento ordinario.
Deve essere in grado di sopportare 2 “failure” e una totale assenza di elettricità sulla rampa. Deve richiedere un’azione umana per la partenza ma nessuna azione per l’arresto. L’arrivo deve avvenire il più facilmente possibile come lo scendere dal mezzo che deve essere senza gradini o scale in modo da essere il più vicino possibile ai bunker o ai mezzi d’evacuazione. Tutto il sistema deve funzionare senza energia e sfruttando solamente energia meccanica e/o gravitazionale.
Insomma se avete una ditta che costruisce montagne russe è l’ora di farsi sotto! 
Tutto il testo della RFP:
Contracting Office AddressNASA/John F. Kennedy Space Center, Procurement, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899Description
The NAICS Code and Size Standard are 541330 and $4.5M, respectively. Design of an Emergency Egress System for the Crew Launch Vehicle at Launch Complex 39B at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. This synopsis specifies the Government’s requirement. There is no separate solicitation package. The Emergency Egress System (EES) is planned to provide a safe mode of emergency egress from the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to a safe location via a multi-vehicle, rail system for the flight crew, closeout and contingency crews, and ground operations personnel. The rail system vehicles will have an entry point located on the crew access level of the yet to be designed Mobile Launcher Tower (MLT; ~367 ft. above ground level) and exit point at a safe location a distance of at least 1200 ft. west of entry point at ground level. The Architect and Engineering (A&E) firm will be responsible for the portion of the EES starting at the vehicle loading area on the MLT crew access level and ending at the safe location. The MLT will provide the access to assemble, test, check out, service, transfer to the pad, launch, perform on-pad abort, and post launch securing of the Crew Launch Vehicle/CEV. The MLT will provide structural support for the vertical or near-vertical travel of the EES rails and rail vehicles as well as contain the loading area. Attached is a general preliminary concept of the MLT. The MLT is rolled from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the pad and back for each launch flow. The general requirements of the Emergency Egress System include, but are not limited to: the total egress time from CEV hatch to the safe location for 15 able-bodied personnel shall not exceed two minutes (with 30 seconds allotted for transport from the CEV to the EES vehicle loading area); the system vehicles shall accommodate astronauts in space suits, rescue workers in fire suits and ground support personnel in ordinary clothing; the system must be able to accommodate up to nine incapacitated crew/pad personnel to safely egress to the safe location; the system shall be capable of experiencing two (2) failures and still operate; the system shall remain operational after a total launch pad power failure; the system shall be a passive system requiring human action to start, but no human action to stop; the vehicle restraint systems shall be minimum with little or no human intervention at the loading and landing areas; the system shall provide a clear route from the vehicle loading area on the MLT without steps or stairs and the loading and unloading areas shall facilitate simultaneous entrance and exit of personnel. The vehicle launching mechanism from the MLT shall be unpowered, and gravity or mechanically driven with minimal to zero degree ramp angle for personnel loading. The professional services required for this project may include, but will not necessarily be limited to conducting field investigations, topographical and geotechnical surveys, soil testing and analysis of existing and planned work and support systems and to prepare engineering reports of recommended action and/or design packages. The firm will be selected to develop a complete design package for the Emergency Egress System and to provide studies, surveys, reports, environmental permit applications, environmental certificates of compliance and at the discretion of KSC, to perform other professional and incidental services for the subject project, such as project and construction management support in all phases of the work throughout design, advertisement and award period and construction. This may include review of shop drawings, resolution of problems, providing of inspection services in the post design phase of the project and record construction drawings. The A&E shall have knowledge of different types of construction methods and be responsive to changes in direction. The professional services required for this project will require multi-disciplined engineering skills for performance of the required work. The selected firm’s project staff must include, as a minimum, specialists with demonstrated experience in the following disciplines: Structural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering (with environmental engineering experience), Electrical Engineering, Human Factors Engineering, and Project Management with combined demonstrated experience in the design of large scale multi-vehicle rail systems with special purpose vehicles, rail systems employing movable rail sections, rail systems in coastal and/or corrosive environments, and lightning protection for the systems. The firm shall have the capability to provide engineering calculations and computer modeling and simulation of the Emergency Egress System. The firm shall have demonstrated experience in rail system analysis, procurement and performance specification preparation, material and equipment standards preparation, construction management and development of operating and maintenance documentation, including spares provisioning, as well as failure and hazard analysis. For state-regulated permits, the A&E shall have staff with Professional Engineering license in the state of Florida. The design effort for the proposed Emergency Egress System may require site investigations, integrating project requirements, and close coordination with other projects, especially the design of the Mobile Launcher Tower. The final design will be utilized for the advertisement and award of a fixed price construction contract. All packages prepared by the firm will include detailed cost estimates and schedules. The selected firm will provide design services and technical assistance during bidding. For informational purposes, the construction magnitude of the project is currently estimated to be within a range of between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000. Fixed price delivery orders will be negotiated with the selected A&E. The contractual instrument will include NASA FAR Supplement clause 1852.209-71, Limitation of Future Contracting, such that the successful A&E will be prohibited from competing for the follow-on construction effort as either a prime contractor or first tier subcontractor. The A&E firm will be selected in accordance with the evaluation factors described below. A responding firm must tailor their submittal to the specific requirements of this synopsis. The submittal shall not exceed 80 pages. The following are areas of particular interest for the Emergency Egress System: the rail vehicle passenger restraint system, the vehicle braking system, the section of rail that will connect the portion of the system that is supported by the MLT and the section that will remain at the launch pad, configuration of the vehicle loading and unloading areas, the potential forces that personnel will be subjected to while in the vehicles, and the ability to safely and effectively load and transport incapacitated personnel. The 80 page limit includes the Standard Form 330 and additional information the offeror may need to adequately respond to the requirements of this synopsis. Only the first 80 pages of an offer that exceeds the page limitation will be evaluated. A page is defined as one side of an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper (fold out sheets will be counted as multiple pages in accordance with their size). In addition, the character size shall be a minimum of 10 font, single spaced. Offers may submit on single or double sided sheets, but shall not exceed the page limitation. Cover pages and tab pages are acceptable but information on these pages will not be considered. No more than one copy of the A&E’s response to this notice is required. EVALUATION FACTORS The following evaluation factors are in descending order of importance and will be used in the evaluation of all A&E submittals for these projects. NASA will consider the immediate past 10 years as the period of time for evaluation under factors (1) and (2). (1) Specialized experience and technical competence in the type of work required. (Selection Weight, 40 percent). (2) Past performance on contracts with Government agencies and private industry in terms of cost control, quality of work, compliance with performance schedules, and success in prescribing the use of recovered materials and achieving waste reduction and energy efficiency in facility design. (Selection Weight, 35 percent). (3) Professional qualification necessary for satisfactory performance of required services. (Selection Weight, 10 percent). (4) Capacity to accomplish the work in the required time. (Selection Weight, 10 percent). (5) Location of the essential staff for this project (or a commitment to locate) in the general geographical area of the project and knowledge of the locality of the project, provided that application of this criterion leaves an appropriate number of qualified firms, given the nature and size of the project. (Selection Weight, 5 percent). As a part of your submittal, provide in order of the above factors, a specific response to each factor. Specify A&E Fees, if any, received by prime contract with NASA. Firms responding to this notice should submit, along with Standard Form 330, any additional information such as previous related projects that the offeror may have implemented and feels may benefit their firm in the selection process. The proposed design team qualification as they relate to the specialized experience and technical competence required for this project should be stated. Closing date for responding to this notice is no later than 4:00 PM local time on April 20, 2007. Offerors are cautioned that submittals received after the specified closing date may be considered late. All qualified firms may provide a submittal. This is not a small-business set-aside. Please reference R-2007-01 when responding. All questions should be directed to Mr. Jack Massey, (321) 867-3463. Submittals should be made in writing to NASA-KSC, Central Industry Assistance Office (CIAO), 7110 N. Courtenay Parkway, Merritt Island, FL 32953. [OMBUDSMAN STATEMENT IS REQUIRED] An ombudsman has been appointed. See NASA Specific Note "B".Point of Contact
Name: Jack E. Massey
Title: Contracting Officer
Phone: 321-867-3463
Fax: 321-867-2042
Email: Jack.Massey-1@ksc.nasa.gov
http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/synopsis.cgi?acqid=123663