[Protest of NASA Rejection of Bid as Nonresponsive]

A firm protested the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) rejection of its two bids for a pipe-cutting machine system as nonresponsive, contending that: (1) NASA should have awarded it the contract, since its bids were low; (2) NASA failed to provide it with a copy of the technical evaluation; (3) GAO failed to release to it the NASA protest report; (4) certain solicitation specifications restricted competition or overstated the agency's needs; and (5) NASA did not adequately describe the required equipment. GAO held that NASA properly rejected the protester's bids, since the: (1) protester failed to submit sufficient information with the primary bid to demonstrate that its product complied with the specifications; and (2) protester's alternate product did not comply with the specifications. GAO also held that the protester: (1) properly received only the contracting officer's report and the protest report's cover sheet, since those documents fully detailed all of the evaluation documents' information; and (2) untimely filed its protests regarding defective specifications more than 10 working days after it was aware of the basis for protest. Accordingly, the protest was denied in part and dismissed in part.