NASA Awards Very Long Baseline Interferometry Support Services

GREENBELT, Md., March 30, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has awarded the follow-on contract for Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Support Services to NVI, Inc., of Greenbelt, Maryland.

This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with a total value of $12 million. The period of performance is from April 1 through March 31, 2022. 

VLBI is a geodetic technique that uses Earth-based antennas to precisely measure radio waves from distant quasars, determining the Earth's orientation relative to the stars and contributing to precise measurements of position on the Earth's surface.  These measurements help define and improve the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), which is critical for accurate GPS positioning, spacecraft navigation, satellite orbit determination, and measuring deformation of the Earth's crust.

NVI will coordinate and analyze VLBI observations; develop, implement, document and maintain related software; support the activities of the International VLBI Service (IVS); and support the NASA Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory and the next generation VLBI stations.

For more details on VLBI, visit:

https://lupus.gsfc.nasa.gov

For information about NASA's Space Geodesy Project, visit:

https://space-geodesy.nasa.gov/index.html

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SOURCE NASA