Outdoor Leadership and Team Building Expedition Training

Background
The NASA Astronaut Office Training Branch is responsible for providing an Outdoor Teambuilding and Supervised Leadership Expedition Training course aimed at astronaut candidates and assigned crew members. This course is designed to enhance leadership, teamwork, and self-care skills in a remote wilderness setting, which simulates the conditions of spaceflight, thereby offering development opportunities for teams prior to their missions.

Work Details
The contract entails a 10-day outdoor leadership expedition for up to 16 participants. The vendor must provide sufficient instructors to ensure a low student-to-instructor ratio by dividing participants into smaller groups.

The leadership curriculum will be delivered entirely in the remote wilderness and will cover communication, group dynamics, leadership styles, and decision-making strategies. The vendor must demonstrate a thorough understanding of NASA’s objectives and work collaboratively to customize the course. Instructors are required to have extensive training that includes experience on extended remote wilderness expeditions, high-level risk management skills in outdoor settings, medical training (including CPR certification and Wilderness First Responder certification), advanced navigation, camping, and backpacking skills, as well as experience in facilitating a leadership curriculum while managing group dynamics effectively. Additionally, the tuition includes an equipment package consisting of various outdoor gear such as insulating layers, sleeping bags, backpacks, and water treatment systems.

Period of Performance
The expedition will take place from September 8th, 2026, through September 17th, 2026.

Place of Performance
The training will be conducted in the remote wilderness outside of Lander, Wyoming.

Bidder Requirements
Bidders must ensure that instructors possess extensive training including experience on extended remote wilderness expeditions, high-level risk management capabilities in outdoor settings, medical training (CPR certification and Wilderness First Responder certification), advanced navigation skills, camping and backpacking expertise, as well as experience in facilitating leadership curricula while managing group dynamics.

Incumbent Analysis (see Incumbents section for more detail)
The prior award 80NSSC25PB934 was awarded to the National Outdoor Leadership School for “Outdoor Leadership and Team Building Expedition Training” with a period of performance from 10/11/25–10/31/26 and a value of $25,000. The current opportunity’s described 10-day remote wilderness leadership expedition for up to 16 participants, including instructor requirements for wilderness expedition experience, risk management, medical certifications (CPR/Wilderness First Responder), navigation, and facilitation of a leadership/team-building curriculum appears to be a continuation or closely related delivery of the same type of training.