Tuesday, August 14, 2007

NASA awards $1.8B for moon mission motor





The company, also known as ATK, said the contract runs through 2012 and calls for it to deliver five new motors and other equipment for test flights.

Orion will be the Apollo capsule-like replacement for the 26-year-old space shuttle fleet that is supposed to retire in 2010, after completion of the international space station.

1 comment:

Tony F. said...

Why do I feel a bureaucratic hand on all of this? I would really love to hear someone from NASA explain in very plain, practical terms how the Orion's Apollo-style design is advantageous, or otherwise preferable, to a reusable shuttle-craft design. It seems to me like a huge step backward, almost like we're retreating under the looming shadow of the shuttle disasters of the last 20 years.