TFOME
Proven Productivity and Efficiency on the TFOME Contract
Sierra Lobo provided operations, engineering, and maintenance support services for NASA Glenn Research Center’s (GRC) research facilities and laboratories. It was GRC’s goal to consolidate parts or all of several existing contracts (TFSS, PBOS, GESS, and more) into an integrated effort. Our team brought GRC a history of diverse consolidation efforts that reaped increased productivity performances for our customers through improved operational efficiencies.
On this contract, Sierra Lobo augmented the civil servant workforce in most facilities. We worked collaboratively with numerous customers, internal and external to GRC, to accomplish testing milestones across aeronautics and space program areas. We ensured that the test facilities were maintained properly, were available to support the testing requirements, and were state-of-the-art in terms of their capabilities.
Some of the facilities Sierra Lobo supported include wind tunnels, engine altitude chambers, engine component facilities, space simulation chambers, zero gravity facilities, instrumentation R&D laboratories, materials and structures R&D laboratories, clean rooms, and rocket test facilities.
Sierra Lobo provided all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, vehicles, supervision and other items necessary to plan, prepare, and conduct tests; to plan and support facility and hardware development; to operate, maintain, and repair the facilities; and to provide required administrative support. Sierra Lobo’s tasks on this contract were organized into three areas:
- Testing– cradle-to-grave:
- Test Planning, Test Operations, Test Preparation, Post-Test Activities
- Development– Project types typically include:
- Facility Development – focused on improving or modifying the capabilities of a facility to support a specific test or future needs
- Model/Test Apparatus Development – focused on models and test apparatus, such as mounting hardware, test platforms, and test-specific auxiliary systems
- Flight Hardware Development – projects range from constructing major International Space Station research facilities to small hardware for research aircraft. This area also includes flight hardware qualification testing
- General Services– For GRC, internal and external customers
- Plum Brook infrastructure and general institutional support services
- Operating support facilities
- Maintenance and repairs
Customers
While NASA GRC was our main customer on TFOME, Sierra Lobo also serveed numerous outside customers on multiple projects. Our customers included:
- Department of Defense
- U.S. Army
- U.S. Air Force
- DARPA
- Ohio Air National Guard
Major Aircraft Manufacturers
- Bell
- Hamilton Sundstrand
- Northrop Grumman
- Siemens
- Boeing
- General Electric
- Pratt & Whitney
- Sikorsky
- Bombardier
- B.F. Goodrich
- Rolls Royce
Commercial Organizations and Research Institutions
- Aerospace Corporation
- Caterpillar
- Lockheed Martin
- Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- Battelle Memorial Institute
- ITT Space Systems
- United Launch Alliance
Universities
- Case Western University
- Cleveland State University
- University of Toledo
- Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- Battelle Memorial Institute
- ITT Space Systems
- Wichita State University
Projects and Services
Small samplings of projects Sierra Lobo personnel performed on this contract include:
- ARES I-X Upper Stage Simulator development and construction
- Lunar and Polar Rovers, and Mars Rover sand crawler projects for NASA
- Bell Helicopter gear box and transmission tests for U.S. Army
- 110-W Stirling Radioisotope Generator project tests for Lockheed Martin
- LOX/Methane testing for the Crew Exploration Vehicle for NASA
- Return to Flight material specimen tests, ballistic impact tests, and dependability tests for Boeing