Sep 01 2006
Lunar Lander Builder Confirmed
WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA on Thursday gave a multibillion dollar contract to build a manned lunar spaceship to Lockheed Martin Corp., the aerospace leader that usually builds unmanned rockets.
The last time NASA awarded a manned spaceship contract to Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Maryland, was in 1996 for a spaceplane that was supposed to replace the space shuttle. NASA spent $912 million and the ship, called X-33, never got built because of technical problems.
The nation’s space agency chose Lockheed Martin, the biggest government aerospace and defense contractor, to build the Orion crew exploration vehicle, which is once again supposed to replace the space shuttle fleet, take astronauts to the moon and perhaps on to Mars.
Wow. I don’t know how comfortable I’d be with them handling the building of anything these days, considering the recent fiasco that was exposed on YouTube, but I guess it’s too late for that. Think NASA saw that before they made their choice?
Technorati Tags: nasa, lockheed martin
September 1st, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Am I the only one who is curious as to why we were able to start from scratch in the 1960’s and have a man on the moon eight years later, yet today, despite better technology AND all the know-how, it’s going to take 13 years to get back?
September 1st, 2006 at 12:56 pm
More safety protocols and a more complicated vehicle?
September 1st, 2006 at 6:11 pm
I guess you’re probably right. It seems most of NASA’s projects start at least 10 years before fruition, and that doesn’t count the time it take to travel wherever they are headed.