Brian Dunbar
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.                                                                            
March 4, 1991
(Phone:  202/453-1749)                                                                                                 
4 p.m. EST

Randee Exler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone:  301/286-7277)


RELEASE:  91-37

ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. SELECTED FOR OCEAN DATA CONTRACT

   NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. (OSC), Fairfax, Va., 
to negotiate a contract that represents a new way of doing 
business for the space agency.  Under the firm, fixed-price 
contract, OSC would provide ocean color data to NASA to support 
research performed by the Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes, 
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.  NASA would buy only 
the data, all other functions of the mission, designated the 
Ocean Color Data Mission, would be the responsibility of OSC.

   The contract, expected to be awarded April 1, 1991, would run 
for approximately 7.5 years, consisting of approximately 2.5 
years from development to launch and 5 years of data production.  
The work would be performed at OSC's facility in Fairfax, Va., as 
well as other subcontractor locations.  Launch is expected to be 
28 months after the awarding of the contract, approximately 
August 1993.  The total proposed firm-fixed price is $43.5 
million.

   The mission's scientific objective is to measure changes in 
ocean color that indicate where concentrations of phytoplankton 
and chlorophyll lie on the surface of the ocean.   For global 
change research, measuring concentrations of phytoplankton are 
essential in understanding the role of oceans in the global 
carbon cycle.  

   The oceans are believed to store vast amounts of carbon 
through the phytoplankton's photosynthesis, but the extent and 
nature of these carbon-storage and release mechanisms are not 
well understood.  By improving their knowledge of how oceans 
store and release carbon, scientists can better understand and 
model global climate.

   The data's commercial value lies in its ability to pinpoint 
likely concentrations of fish, which feed on the phytoplankton or 
on other species associated with the phytoplankton. 
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   The Ocean Color Data Mission is an advancement of work done 
by the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS), an instrument aboard 
the Nimbus-7 satellite.  Following its 1978 launch, CZCS returned 
ocean color data for 8 years, providing scientists with a 
global-scale, multi-year data on ocean biological productivity.  

   The interdisciplinary uses (oceanography, climatology) of 
data provided by CZCS and the Ocean Color Data Mission are 
characteristic of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, a coordinated 
effort that uses ground-, airborne- and space-based measurements 
to study the Earth as an integrated environmental system.

   Under the contract, NASA would purchase for the first time 
only the results of the mission, the data, which would have to 
meet performance standards specified in the original request for 
proposal (RFP).  OSC would be responsible for providing an 
instrument to return the required data, building the spacecraft 
and providing launch, tracking and control services.  

   Normally NASA manages those functions and purchases 
instruments and spacecraft from contractors.  However, because 
the data has commercial applications, the agency structured the 
RFP so that the contractor will be able to sell the data 
commercially and then provide it to NASA for research. 


                            - end -

   Note to editors:  An ocean-color image showing the "spring 
bloom" of phytoplankton is available from the NASA Headquarters 
Audio-Visual Branch (202/453-8373).  The photo numbers are 
90-HC-501 (color) and 90-H-534 (B&W).