THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP, TEST, AND EVALUATE A HIGH-PRESSURE LIQUID HELIUM (LHE) PUMP FOR THE EVENTUAL INTEGRATION OF THE LHE PUMP ONTO A SKID WITH A SMALL LIQUID HELIUM DEWAR FOR USE AS A HIGH PRESSURE HELIUM RECHARGING SYSTEM OR REPLACEMENT OF THE AGING HIGH PRESSURE GASEOUS HELIUM TUBE BANK TRAILERS. THE CONTRACTOR WILL DEVELOP THE HELIUM PUMP IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIED IN THE STATEMENT OF WORK. SIERRA LOBO WAS SELECTED AS A PARTNER BY NASA KSC TO DEVELOP A PROPOSAL IN RESPONSE TO THE 2007 INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM (IPP) CALL FOR PROPOSALS. THE PURPOSE OF THE IPP IS TO PROVIDE LEVERAGED TECHNOLOGY FOR MISSION DIRECTORATES THROUGH INVESTMENTS AND TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS WITH INDUSTRY, ACADEMIA, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND NATIONAL LABORATORIES. HELIUM USAGE AT NASA KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (KSC) DURING LAUNCH OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE VEHICLE IS APPROXIMATELY 1,200 SCFM FOR SEVERAL DAYS AND HIGHER FOR DELTA IV LAUNCH SUPPORT. THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE CONSTELLATION HEAVY LIFT (ARES V) ARE EXPECTED TO EXCEED THE CAPABILITIES OF THE PRESENT TRADITIONAL COMPRESSOR SYSTEM. KSC CURRENTLY USES AGED TRADITIONAL WARM GAS COMPRESSOR TECHNOLOGY TO PRODUCE HIGH PRESSURE GASEOUS HELIUM (GHE) TO SUPPORT GROUND AND FLIGHT PROCESSING. THIS SYSTEM WAS DESIGNED OVER 40 YEARS AGO AND WAS ORIGINALLY BASED ON THE SUPPLY OF HELIUM COMING IN RAILCAR DELIVERY IN GASEOUS FORM. CURRENT DELIVERY METHOD FOR HELIUM HAS TRANSITIONED TO LIQUID HELIUM DELIVERY BY OVER THE ROAD TANKERS WITH ADDITIONAL FACILITY MODIFICATIONS IMPLEMENTED TO ACCOMMODATE THE LHE TO GHE CONVERSION THAT FEEDS THE COMPRESSORS. IT IS MORE EFFICIENT TO PRESSURIZE THE LIQUID HELIUM (LHE) AND CONVERT IT TO COLD GAS THAN IT IS TO USE THE CURRENT METHOD OF CONVERTING THE LIQUID TO GAS AND THEN COMPRESSING THE WARM GAS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A LHE TO HIGH PRESSURE COLD GAS GHE PUMP UNIT CAPABLE OF SUPPLYING HIGH PRESSURE GAS TO SUPPORT GHE STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS. THE PUMP UNIT WILL BE THE KEY COMPONENT IN A PORTABLE RECHARGER SYSTEM TO RESUPPLY REMOTE STORAGE BANKS WITH GHE AND CAPABLE OF EFFICIENTLY AND COST EFFECTIVELY SUPPORTING THE GENERATION OF 6,000 PSI GHE AT FLOW RATES UP TO 1,500-1,800 SCFM IN A FIXED SYSTEM SIMILAR TO THE NASA KSC CONVERTER COMPRESSOR FACILITY (CCF). THIS NEW LHE PUMP UNIT SHOULD HELP SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE NASA KSC S CONVERTER COMPRESSOR FACILITY (CCF) MANPOWER, ELECTRICITY, AND MAINTENANCE COSTS BY REPLACING THE EXISTING TRADITIONAL SYSTEM OF MULTIPLE CONVENTIONAL COMPRESSORS AT THE KSC CCF. THE PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE IS EIGHTEEN MONTHS FROM THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE CONTRACT AWARD.