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NASA Awards Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Operations Contract

NASA’s has awarded a contract to Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Service of Houston for support of flight crew training and development activities at the Sonny Carter Training Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Operations Contract (NOC) has a two-year base period that begins Oct. 1, followed by a one-year option and two two-year options. The total potential value of the contract is $154.5 million. The contract includes a cost-plus-award-fee (CPAF) portion, which covers the core work of the contract, and a CPAF firm-fixed-price portion for indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity orders.

Under the NOC, Raytheon will procure highly-skilled services that include enriched-oxygen breathing gas production (Nitrox), life-support systems for submersed space-suited subjects, spacewalk procedure development and verification, operation of human-rated robotic system, integrated audio and video systems, Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) training and evaluations, and computer network systems that are tied to International Space Station simulations to generate emergency scenarios.

The NOC also will support crew training and development activities that are crucial to continued safety and success of the space station mission, NASA’s Orion spacecraft and its Commercial Crew Program.

The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory is a unique facility that is available at all times for critical training and mission support operations, and is kept in a ready state to support the dynamic nature of human spaceflight. The 6.2 million-gallon pool, an essential tool for spacewalk training, simulates the weightlessness experienced by astronauts in space.

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

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Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov
Brandi Dean
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
brandi.dean@nasa.gov