NASA has awarded Lockheed Martin a sole source contract to test its new Orion crew capsule. Lockheed is NASA's prime contractor for the Orion program. Orion is supposed to take humans on voyages throughout the solar system.
NextGov reports, the latest contract is worth $370 million. The unmanned test will take the capsule into earth orbit and bring it back. Engineers hope to discover any weak spots that could endanger a crew. NASA says it plans to launch an Orion capsule with astronauts aboard some time in 2014. NASA administrator Charles Bolden plans to tour Lockheed facilities near Denver later today.
The space race is back on,thank goodness.I should say thank China for raising the bar.
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