Lockheed Martin on Thursday won NASA’s multibillion-dollar nod to build the Orion crew exploration vehicle, a spaceship with a look and a mission that echoes the space agency’s giant leap to the moon in the 1960s.
The announcement kicks off an effort to produce spacecraft that would replace NASA’s fleet of space shuttles, due for retirement in 2010. NASA’s timetable calls for the cone-shaped Orion ships to bring cargo or up to six crew members to the international space station by 2014, and carry up to four astronauts to the moon and back by 2020.
August 31st, 2006
Lockheed Martin to build future moonship
December 19th, 2005
NASA’s New Spaceship Builder Has Sights on the Moon, Mars Washington Post
The idea for what is known as the “Scotty Rocket,” came to Scott J. Horowitz and several fellow astronauts during brainstorming sessions after space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas in 2003. “The idea was ‘safe, simple and soon,’ ” Horowitz said. Build the new rocket “in line,” with the spacecraft on top so debris won’t hit it during launch. Use shuttle technology whenever possible because it’s already certified to carry humans. And build it with shuttle engineers — to get it done quickly. “Quite frankly, people weren’t very interested,” Horowitz said. Things have changed.
October 14th, 2005
Northrop Grumman-Boeing Team Unveils Plans for Crew Exploration Vehicle Press Release
A Northrop Grumman-Boeing team today unveiled its plans to design and build NASA’s proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), a modular space system intended to carry humans to the International Space Station by 2012 and back to the moon by 2018.
The CEV comprises a crew module that builds on NASA’s Apollo spacecraft, a service module and a launch-abort system. It is designed to be carried into space aboard a shuttle-derived launch vehicle
July 4th, 2005
As NASA evolves, what will replace the shuttle?
Squinting up into the bright sky, more than 400,000 people waited for Discovery in the California desert on that October morning in 1988.
The space shuttle program had been grounded for almost three years after the Challenger disaster. But the successful flight of space shuttle Discovery felt like a new beginning to the crowd. People whooped and sobbed as the shuttle punched out two sonic booms and glided to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base.
Almost 17 years later, Discovery is again returning the grounded space program to flight
July 4th, 2005
NASA’s Moon Plans Shift into High Gear
NASA is set to begin rolling out the results of a landmark space exploration architecture study that calls for building an Apollo-like astronaut capsule and conducting up to six lunar sorties per year using rocket hardware derived from the space shuttle.
Sixty days in the making, the Exploration Systems Architecture Study will go a long way toward defining the approach and the hardware NASA will use to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020, and eventually go on to Mars.
July 1st, 2005
NASA Plans to Build Two New Shuttle-derived Launch Vehicles SpaceRef.com
According to a new NASA study, when America goes back to the moon and on to Mars it will do so with hardware that looks very familiar.
NASA has decided to build two new launch systems – both of which will draw upon existing Space Shuttle hardware. One vehicle will be a cargo-only heavy lifter, the other will be used to launch the Crew Exploration Vehicle.
May 9th, 2005
t/Space Offers an Option for Closing Shuttle, CEV Gap Space News
Transformational Space Corp. (t/Space), a company founded in response to the new U.S. vision for space exploration, thinks it can help NASA close the gap between retiring the space shuttle fleet and fielding a Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to carry astronauts beyond Earth’s orbit. The Reston, Va.-based company already already convinced NASA to give it $6 million in exchange for advice on how the U.S. space agency can reach beyond the traditional aerospace industry to answer a presidential call to return to the Moon by 2020. Now t/Space is hoping to convince NASA to part with $400 million in exchange for an Earth-to-orbit crew transfer vehicle, which company executives say they can have ready in 2008.
May 3rd, 2005
The Future of Flight? Popular Mechanics
When NASA requested designs for a Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), two major teams–one headed by Lockheed Martin and one by Northrop Grumman and Boeing–took on the challenge. The winning concept will be chosen in 2008, and the manned vehicle flown in 2014.
April 7th, 2005
Northrop Grumman, Boeing Announce Companies Supporting CEV Team Spacer
Northrop Grumman and Boeing, who are teaming to design and build NASA’s Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), Tuesday unveiled the major companies that will support their efforts to fulfill the nation’s Vision for Space Exploration.
March 11th, 2005
NASA juggles work force as it shifts focus to Mars
About one of every seven NASA workers nationwide will be transferred or paid to leave in the next 1 1/2 years as the space agency focuses on President Bush’s moon-Mars exploration plan, officials said Thursday. However, many of those who depart likely will be replaced by new workers with skills more closely aligned with the new, deep space mission. NASA employs about 18,900 government workers.