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NASA Facing Few Choices To Build CEV
The decision by Boeing and Northrup Grumman to join forces in their bid to build NASA's next generation manned spacecraft, dubbed the crew exploration vehicle or CEV, significantly reduces the number of major aerospace players available to the agency. This also forces NASA to make its choice from only two camps, neither of which is ideal: the oversized and experienced vs. the undersized and innovative. The CEV is planned as NASA's primary manned spacecraft as soon as the space shuttle fleet is retired, probably in 2010. The agency's road map for building the CEV calls for proposals to be submitted early in 2005, with two companies then chosen to build a prototype that actually will stand for flight tests in 2008. NASA then will pick its prime contractor from these two companies. The first manned mission is set for no later than 2014. After that, the CEV will be augmented so it can be used for all manned missions to the moon and beyond...Article also gives a general overview to the current manned space program organization, which is subject to drastic change with the arrival of Burt Rutan and t/Space. Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-11-14 |
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