NASA CONTEST GOES ON TEAMS GET EXTENSION.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - NASA will keep two aerospace-industry teams vying to build American's next manned spacecraft on the job longer than expected, extending their work until the space agency picks one as a winner, possibly as early as August.

Teams led by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, with Boeing serving as Northrop Grumman's major teammate, were each given contract extensions worth approximately $17.5 million to continue work on the first phase of the Crew Exploration Vehicle program.

The extensions were the result of a slip in the schedule as to when NASA will select one as the prime contractor.

``Under Phase I, the contractors are working - together - with NASA to develop the basic requirements for the vehicle,'' said NASA spokesman Kelly Humperies.

Both teams were awarded first-phase contracts in June 2005 that were to run through March 31. The initial contracts plus the extensions are each worth about $60 million.

Although the new contract authorizations include options that could extend the Phase 1 work until December, NASA expects to select the prime contractor by August, Humperies said.

Both teams submitted proposals to NASA earlier this month to develop, build and test the CEV. The new spacecraft is expected to carry up to six astronauts into Earth's orbit soon after the space shuttle is retired in 2010, and then on to the moon by 2018.

Neither team is discussing much in the way of specifics on their second phase proposals at this point.

As NASA and the two teams continue to develop plans for the spacecraft, state and Antelope Valley officials are continuing their push to attract jobs from the program to California.

The California Space Authority, which is coordinating the state's efforts to attract work on the CEV program, hosted meetings this week with congressional representatives in Washington, D.C., to discuss space issues. The CEV program was scheduled to be among the issues discussed.

State officials are not discussing the details of incentive packages put together for either team. In general, the packages include tax credits for research and development work, assistance with employee training, and information about local incentives, such as the Antelope Valley's enterprise zone, which provides tax credits on wages and equipment purchases for work done within the zone.

Also in Washington this week is a delegation from the Antelope Valley Board of Trade. The delegation has meetings scheduled this week with the aerospace companies involved in the competition as well as a meeting with NASA officials.

Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, and colleagues Kevin McCarthy, the Assembly Republican Leader, Assembly Republican Leader-Elect George Plescia are also in Washington this week. The CEV program is among the topics the state leaders said they would discuss with congressional representatives.

Runner is attempting to get tax credits for wages and equipment purchases related to the program included in the governor's revised budget that will be released in May. The credits would be for 10 percent of an employee's wages and 10 percent for equipment purchased directly for the program.

Lockheed Martin officials have announced they intend to do the bulk of the CEV's work in Houston and at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida if they win. The company plans to have as many as 1,200 workers in Texas, saying it makes sense to be next to their customer, NASA's Johnson Space Center.

The Florida work will involve about 400 workers who will do the final assembly of the spacecraft.

The Northrop Grumman-led team will not disclose its assembly site, saying that it would be premature to talk about proposal details.

California officials said they haven't given up on attracting work from either team.

The planned spacecraft will transport up to six crew members to and from the International Space Station and up to four astronauts for moon missions, which the agency expects to start in 2018.

NASA estimates it will cost $104 billion to return astronauts to the moon by 2018. The Apollo program spent the equivalent of $165 billion in today's dollars from 1961 through the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com