NASA SEEKS SPACESHIP PROPOSALS TWO TEAMS TO BE CHOSEN.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. will select two teams of aerospace companies to compete for a contract to build a new manned spaceship that will anchor President George W. Bush's plan to send astronauts back to the moon. A year after Bush announced his initiative to return man to the moon, NASA's top official says the agency will seek proposals this spring from the aerospace industry for the new spacecraft, called the crew exploration vehicle
The Crew Exploration Vehicle (or CEV) was the conceptual component of the Vision for Space Exploration that later became known as the Orion spacecraft. . In a status report on the initiative, outgoing NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said the effort was making significant progress, but that the task at hand was a marathon, not a sprint. ``I'm pleased to report that our journey to the cosmos is well under way,'' O'Keefe said in his update. O'Keefe said plans call for two teams of companies to be awarded contracts this summer to build flight-test vehicles that will be flown in 2008. NASA will then select one team to build the new spacecraft, with a planned delivery date of 2014. Initially, the new spacecraft will be used for placing people into orbit around the Earth. Plans call for the spacecraft's capabilities to be expanded over time to include supporting manned moon missions between 2015 and 2020. The requirements for the spacecraft are still being developed. Planning documents call for a capacity of four astronauts. O'Keefe and Craig Steidle, chief of NASA's exploration systems office, said the president remains committed to the initiative and the effort is building support in Congress. ``We're generating excitement and building trust and confidence,'' Steidle said. What role, if any, the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley will play in the development of the crew exploration vehicle remains to be seen. However, state and local officials are optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op that testing of various technologies for the effort will be done at Edwards Air Force Base. Edwards could support testing of new rocket engines and NASA Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. could be used for flight tests, much in the way it supported development of the space shuttle space shuttle, reusable U.S. space vehicle. Developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it consists of a winged orbiter, two solid-rocket boosters, and an external tank. . O'Keefe, who is leaving the agency to become chancellor of Louisiana CODE, OF LOUISIANA. In 1822, Peter Derbigny, Edward Livingston, and Moreau Lislet, were selected by the legislature to revise and amend the civil code, and to add to it such laws still in force as were not included therein. State University, will stay on with NASA through the unveiling of the proposed 2006 budget on Feb. 7. After that, O'Keefe said his days with the agency will be in ``single digits.'' Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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