When it comes to making NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center facility run like clockwork, Akima Support Operations (ASO)’s team of 113 professionals handles everything. The scope of this $131.7 million contract — operations, maintenance, short-term and long-term planning, and equipment commissioning and decommissioning — stands among the widest range of responsibilities across any of Akima’s Facilities, Maintenance & Repair contracts.
Featured Contract: Facility Support Operations and Maintenance Services (FOMS) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Mission
While NASA scientists study the realm beyond our atmosphere, Akima’s team works 24/7 to provide the full range of facility operations and maintenance support at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The 1,428-acre property includes 36 major buildings and 114 minor structures totaling 3.7 million gross square feet, plus roadways, parking areas, open spaces, and underground utility infrastructure with utility plants. Akima is also tasked with planning for future facility needs that will help keep America’s space program moving forward for decades to come.
“We provide the Center our recommendation — from one to five years out — what equipment, facilities, or infrastructure would need major repairs or replacements,” says Victor Hutson, project manager at NASA FOMS. Akima helps with master planning that looks 25 years into the future to help NASA plan ahead for buildings and infrastructure.
Strategy
“We are responsible for everything from A to Z in terms of building maintenance, operations, and management,” says Karon Gilmore, senior director of operations at ASO. That range of responsibility includes preventive maintenance, repairs (including roofs), central plant operations, safety, code compliance, energy management, electrical systems and substations, HVAC and sewer systems, fire protection, underground utilities, plus two central plants that provide steam, chilled water, and emergency power.
“The director of the Center relies on us to keep the Center open and operating,” Karon continues, every day of the year. When a snowstorm hits Maryland, the ASO team goes into snow removal mode to keep roads, sidewalks, and walkways open and clear so that the Center can continue to operate. Snow removal is a significant effort on this contract, explains Victor.
Another challenge is juggling important maintenance tasks with NASA’s busy mission schedule. “One of the more challenging things is being able to shut the facility down to do electrical inspections and tests,” Victor says. “It requires a lot of flexibility on our part.”
Expertise
ASO’s team of 113 professionals include high and low voltage electricians, HVAC professionals, chiller operators, civil engineers, planners, controls engineers, quality and safety inspectors, plumbers, underground utility technicians, equipment operators, carpenters, and more.
Honors
For their dedication and top-rated work, Akima team members have even earned top honors from NASA, including a 2019 NASA Contractor Excellence Award (won by Daniel McFarland, who runs the Center’s central power plant). This year, seven individuals from Akima’s team won the 2020 Robert H. Goddard Award for their achievement in the delivery of critical infrastructure projects in 2019 that “demonstrated excellence in enabling the Nation’s scientific discovery.”
Results
At the Goddard Space Center, NASA conducts scientific analysis, testing, and experiments, as well as space exploration missions and its international satellite program. “It is the operational home of the Hubble telescope, so any time they need to move or adjust it, it’s done through the Goddard Center,” says Victor. By taking care of all maintenance and operational details, ASO supports this scientific mission through making sure researchers and NASA staff have safe, well-running, clean laboratories and workspaces on a well-maintained site. Through excellence in facility operations, Akima is helping keep the U.S. at the forefront of space exploration
and discovery.
Akima takes care of the critical facility operations that keep an organization running — allowing personnel to focus on their mission at hand.
About Akima
To set the stage for success, large organizations and agencies need trusted behind-the-scenes facilities support to make their missions run seamlessly. That’s where Akima steps in to handle the sheer — and often complicated — amount of maintenance and upkeep that physical buildings and facilities require around the clock. Our Facilities, Maintenance & Repair capabilities allow organizations and agencies to rely on our professional teams to keep their properties running at peak performance.
Akima’s services include everything from building repairs to safety improvements, utilities, plumbing, masonry, carpentry, civil engineering, property management, energy management, grounds maintenance, longterm planning, and more.
