Market Segments | Critical Infrastructure

NASA solicits bids on a warning system, but with very little warning

NASA intends to purchase a "Giant Voice Alert System" for use outdoors at its Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, but at least one potential bidder on the warning system wishes the NASA contracting officer had provided more than two days of "warning" before proposals were due.

The research center plans to install a wireless emergency alerting system, consisting of several speakers attached to a tall pole, which can be activated from the site’s dispatch center, its emergency operations center or an incident command mobile vehicle.

NASA envisions a one-year base contract under which the successful vendor would install and maintain an emergency system notification that would operate wirelessly, and be powered by solar panels or batteries.

According to one potential bidder, George Washington (no kidding, that’s his real name), the owner of Washington Electronics, Inc., of Pittsburg, KS, NASA is likely to award this contract to Federal Signal Corp., of Oak Brook, IL, which already supplies similar systems at Langley Air Force Base. "It’s the same system they’re using at the air base," explained Washington, "and that’s what they want."

Washington told GSN he was not happy that NASA appears to have made up its mind already, but he was even more concerned that the official procurement notice was only posted on April 15 and bids are due on April 17. "I’ve got a problem with that," he added. "A contractor can’t just throw something down on a page and hope that it works."

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