ASBCA 64123

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS Appeal of - ) ) Planetary Science Institute ) ASBCA No. 64123 ) Under Contract No. 80-MSFC-20-C-0015 ) APPEARANCE FOR THE APPELLANT: Mark V. Sykes, Esq. Counsel APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Karen M. Reilley, Esq. NASA Chief Trial Attorney Kyle A. Sommerville, Esq. Kelly R. Masters, Esq. Trial Attorneys Marshall Space Flight Center, AL OPINION BY ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE WITWER UNDER BOARD RULE 12.3 This appeal arises under a contract between appellant, Planetary Science Institute (PSI), and respondent, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), for work associated with the Heimdall lunar camera project. PSI seeks to recover $8,387.81 in costs incurred for the Principal Investigator’s travel to a scientific conference in Scotland. PSI argues that its proposal was incorporated into the contract and authorized the foreign travel without any requirement for prior agency approval. NASA contends that the contract did not incorporate PSI’s proposal in full and that the revised Statement of Work did not authorize the travel. NASA also argues that PSI failed to follow required procedures for foreign travel, including obtaining prior agency approval and a country clearance from the U.S. Department of State. PSI elected to proceed under Board Rule 12.3, Accelerated Procedure. Both parties waived a hearing and submitted their cases on the written record pursuant to Board Rule 11. Under Board Rule 12.3(c), the Board’s decision “will normally be short and contain only summary findings of fact and conclusions.” As explained below, we deny the appeal because PSI has not established that the foreign travel costs at issue were within the scope of the contract.  FINDINGS OF FACT 1 The Contract 1. On November 13, 2019, NASA awarded Contract No. 80-MSFC-20-C-0015 to PSI for work on the Heimdall project (JSF ¶ 1; R4, tab 1 at 1-2)—a camera system selected by NASA’s Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads (LSITP) program, which funds payload projects for delivery to the moon via NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative (R4, tab 1 at 44, 46; app supp. R4, tab 5 at 107; app. supp. R4, tab 8 at 273, 281). The Statement of Work was set forth in Attachment J-1 of the contract (R4, tab 1 at 43-45). The general intent of the Heimdall project is to study the lunar surface (id. at 44-45). 2 2. The original period of performance was three months (JSF ¶ 2; R4, tab 1 at 44) but was later extended through January 31, 2026 (R4, tab 1.20 at 202). The contract included Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Clause 52.216-7, ALLOWABLE COST AND PAYMENT (AUG 2018), ALTERNATE IV (AUG 2012), which provides that the contracting officer will make payments in amounts determined to be allowable under FAR subpart 31.7 (R4, tab 1 at 22). Modification No. 20 3. On August 7, 2023, the parties executed bilateral Modification No. 20 (JSF ¶ 8). The stated purpose of the modification was to incorporate PSI’s February 24, 2023, proposal titled “Heimdall Storage and Integration Proposal” (R4, tab 1.20 at 202, tab 6 at 271). The proposal supported continued work by the Heimdall Principal Investigator, Dr. R. Aileen Yingst (JSF ¶ 5; R4, tab 6 at 271). 4. Relevant here, PSI’s proposal included, among other tasks, a plan for the Principal Investigator to prepare and publish a paper and present “at an appropriate science conference in 2024 and 2025” (JSF ¶ 6; R4, tab 6 at 273). The proposal also 1 The parties submitted a 20-paragraph Joint Stipulation of Facts (JSF), as amended on July 11, 2025. We accept the stipulated facts as true, although we do not restate each one here. Our findings of fact rely upon the JSF and additional record evidence submitted by the parties. The Board appreciates the parties’ cooperation in preparing the JSF, which was helpful to our review. 2 The Heimdall is “a flexible camera system intended to model the properties of the Moon’s regolith—the soil and other material that make up the top layer of the lunar surface—and characterize and map geologic features, as well [as] characterize potential landing or trafficability hazards, among other goals” (app. supp. R4, tab 8 at 281).