NASA Awards Crew
Exploration Vehicle Contracts
(12 July 2005) NASA has
authorised two eight-month contracts, each worth approximately US$ 28 million,
one to Lockheed Martin Corp. and the other to the team of Northrop Grumman
Corp. and The Boeing Co. to support a July 2006 review of the engineering
systems for the agency's new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV).
During this contract period, in addition to performing
sustained engineering in support of the CEV review, the contractors will
continue to develop designs for NASA's next-generation vehicle for human space
flight and demonstrate ability to manage cost, schedule and risk.
Results of NASA's Exploration Systems Architectural Study, which defines
parameters for the new vehicle to replace the Space Shuttle, will be
incorporated into a "call for improvements" to be released later this year,
inviting proposals from the selected contractors. These proposals will be
evaluated for the final selection of a single CEV contractor.
Originally, the selection of a single industry team was planned for 2008, but
to reduce or eliminate the time between the Shuttle's retirement in 2010 and
the first CEV flight, the selection is planned for early 2006.
The CEV
is expected to carry up to six astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit soon after the
Space Shuttle is retired in 2010, and then on to the moon as early as 2015. The
CEV is a key element of the nation's Vision for Space Exploration, which
returns human explorers to the moon, Mars, and beyond.
(source:
NASA)