Posted on 06/16/2005 1:05:51 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Two teams, one led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and the other by the pairing of Northrop Grumman Corp. and The Boeing Co., will compete to build the nation's next manned spacecraft, NASA announced Tuesday. The agency's requirements for the spacecraft, known as the crew exploration vehicle, or CEV, have yet to be precisely defined, however, as the program itself undergoes a re-evaluation in order to hasten its operational capability.
The vehicle is envisioned as the centerpiece of NASA's plans for manned spaceflight, returning to the moon and eventually traveling to Mars and beyond.
The two teams were chosen based on written proposals submitted in May, NASA spokesman Michael Braukus said.
Since that time, NASA and new Administrator Mike Griffin have decided to close the gap between the space shuttle fleet's retirement in 2010 and the original operational date for the vehicle of 2014.
The program is under review, with new requirements expected in mid-July. The competitors will then be asked to submit revised proposals reflecting those requirements, Braukus said.
The revised proposals will be the basis for the contract competition, with one team being chosen in early 2006 to continue with development of the vehicle hardware.
"The idea is to accelerate the program so a vehicle is ready in 2010," Braukus said.
Although the CEV requirements are not yet finalized, two needs are known: The vehicle must carry six crew members and be capable of serving the international space station, he said.
The two teams are collaborating with NASA on the program review.
"It's a back-and-forth process," while maintaining the competition between the two teams, Northrop Grumman spokesman Brooks McKinney said.
"We have a very clear idea of what we want to propose," McKinney said, but the company does not plan to release any details until the program review is completed and the requirements are known.
"This is an extremely tight competition," he said.
Lockheed, on the other hand, has released some details of its proposal, which it expects to change very little for the final competition, company spokeswoman Joan Underwood said.
Lockheed's design is based on the lifting body concept proven in flight tests by NASA at Edwards Air Force Base in the 1960s and 1970s.
This wingless design has no exposed leading edges like on the space shuttle, making it "definitely much safer," Underwood said.
The investigation into the Columbia space shuttle accident two years ago determined that a piece of foam insulation from the external fuel tank hit the leading edge of the orbiter's wing during launch, damaging the protective tiles. This allowed the super-heated gases of re-entry to get inside the orbiter, ultimately causing it to break apart.
"We've seen the benefit of eliminating wings," Underwood said.
"The priority we and NASA are placing on these next-generation human transport vehicles is safety," she said.
To that end, Lockheed's vehicle would also include a crew module that could be used as an escape pod for emergencies during any phase of the flight, from launch to re-entry, she said.
The vehicle is designed to land on airbags, on either land or water.
The design is intended to be flexible enough to accommodate the requirements for low-Earth orbit, serving the international space station, lunar missions and future Mars missions, Underwood said.
This flexibility should also allow Lockheed to meet the further refinements to the program requirements this summer.
"It fits very well into the larger architecture NASA is looking at for the moon, Mars and beyond," Underwood said.
Lockheed's proposal draws from its experiences in the VentureStar program of the 1990s, she said. That concept, from the company's Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, was intended to be a single-stage-to-orbit, reusable space launch vehicle. That program and its X-33 technology demonstrator were canceled after NASA pulled its funding in 2001.
"We learned quite a bit about technologies that were mature and ready to bring to the table for the CEV," Underwood said. "There were a lot of tremendous capabilities that were incubated and developed for VentureStar that are excellent for the CEV."
Although both teams have facilities in Palmdale, it is not yet clear if they will be involved in the CEV project or to what extent, representatives said.
On the NASA side of the program, Griffin said during a visit to Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB last month that he expects the center to be involved in flight test of the vehicle.
ping
LOL, I cannot explain why, but the most twisted an unique idea came to mind.
Aerospace execs wrestling in a ring for the contracts.
/ end silliness.
Interesting, thanks for the find!
More on the CEV, makes me wonder which one will eventually be built.
ping.
Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites should get in the running. :D
I would love to see that built.
I know, the specification on the composite pressurised fuel tanks seemed unrealistic to me.
Since they kept bursting in pressure tests, they scrapped it, if memory serves.
Would still love to see it built, and see it fly.
Lifting Body? Hmmm......
"It looks good at NASA One."
"Roger."
"BCS Arm switch is on."
"Okay, Victor."
"Lining Rocket Arm switch is on."
"Here comes the throttle."
"Circuit breakers in."
"We have separation."
"Roger."
"Inboard and outboards are on."
"I'm comin' forward with the side stick."
"Looks good."
"Ah, Roger."
"I've got a blow-out in damper three!"
"Get your pitch to zero."
"Pitch is out! I can't hold altitude!"
"Correction, Alpha Hold is off. . . Turn selectors . . . Emergency!"
"Flight Com! I can't hold it! She's breaking up, she's break--"
(Info on the real crash here.)
I'll tell you, if they expect this to fly in five years,
thing are going to start moving FAST, SOON.
Begin The Six Million Dollar Man theme song.....
If Boeing wins this contract, it will be interesting to see if the vehicle will be built in the same location as the Space Shuttle, Plant 42, in Palmdale, California.... That would be great!
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