§ 1210.4 - Company projects.

(a) Initiation of company projects. Company projects will be initiated by a letter to the Center Director followed by a conference between company and NASA representatives at the center having responsibility for the facility proposed for the project. The company representatives will be required to explain the technical need for the project and why the NASA facility is required, as well as to define the extent of the test program, model and equipment requirements, and schedule. The center shall maintain a file of all company requests and their disposition. The company will be required to provide a Safety Analysis Report (SAR) describing potential hazards that the company test program, model, and equipment may present to NASA facilities and personnel, and other documentation required by the facility management to assure that safety requirements are met.

(b) Scheduling of tests. In scheduling time for company projects, the responsible NASA center will consider the merits of all projects, including government, company, and NASA research work relative to the national interest and priorities specified in § 1210.3. Every reasonable attempt will be made to accommodate technically justifiable projects on as timely a basis as possible.

(c) Fees for company projects. The policy on charges for the use of NASA facilities is explained in NASA Management Instruction 9080.1, “Review, Approval, and Imposition of User Charges.” The fee imposed for a company project will cover all direct and indirect costs to NASA for the wind tunnel test.

(1) Occupancy time charge. (i) The occupancy time will be computed from the start of installation of the test article in the wind tunnel test section through the time that the test article is removed from the test section and the test section is restored to its original condition.

(ii) The occupancy time rate will be determined in accordance with NASA Management Instruction 9080.1.

(2) Energy/Fuel. The charge for energy/fuel will be determined from the energy/fuel consumed during the tests and the actual cost to NASA.

(3) Data reduction. The cost of data reduction and the data report will include labor, materials, computational costs, and appropriate indirect charges in accordance with NASA Management Instruction 9080.1.

(4) Cancellation of scheduled wind tunnel time. Upon determination of a test schedule by the representatives of the company and of NASA, it becomes the responsibility of the company to meet this schedule. A project may be cancelled by the company without charge on 60 days’ notice if succeeding projects are ready for testing and can be moved into the company's previously scheduled time. In the event subsequently scheduled work cannot be scheduled in lieu of the company's work, when cancelled with less than 60 days’ notice, the company shall be required to pay the occupancy time charge for the scheduled test period or for the period the facility test section is idle due to the cancellation, whichever results in the smaller charge. Curtailment of a project underway before the end of the scheduled test period may be made by the company. In this event, the company shall be required to pay the occupancy charge for the time used plus the unused scheduled time or for the idle time of the test section, whichever is the smaller.

(5) High-power requirements. Unavailability of adequate power or economic considerations may, on occasion, cause delay or cancellation of high-powered test runs. The company shall cooperate with the facility staff in the scheduling of low-powered runs during periods when large blocks of power are unavailable. However, should rescheduling of test runs to accommodate power shortages be impractical, occupancy time charge credits will be made for time lost arising from such shortages. The basis for these credits, which will also be made for delays due to breakdown or malfunction of Government-furnished equipment or instrumentation, or due to other reasons beyond the control of the company, will be determined by each center. For example, the test period allotted for the program may be extended to offset delays in lieu of a refund.

(d) Test data transmittal. The basic data for company projects will be transmitted to the requesting company without detailed analysis but with the necessary description of methods and techniques employed to permit proper interpretation of the data.

(e) Proprietary rights. In order to protect the trade secrets of companies, NASA will generate one set of final results, which will become the property of the company and be promptly transmitted to the company. If, subsequently, there is need to review the results, it will be the responsibility of the company to provide the NASA center with copies of the resulting data. Upon completion of the review, the data will be returned to the company. Should the company desire to maintain its trade secret rights in the data during the loan period, it should mark the data with a notice stating that the data shall not be used or disclosed other than for review purposes without prior written permission of the company. NASA, in turn, will protect that data covered by the notice which is protected under the law as a trade secret.

(f) Test preparation and conduct. See § 1210.6.