Fergie's Tech Blog

NASA Awards Thermal Protection Contract for Orion Spacecraft

Orion approaches the International Space Station.
Image source: NASA / Lockheed Martin Corp.

NASA has selected The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, Calif., to support the design and development of a lunar direct return-capable heat shield for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The hybrid firm fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has a 16-month period of performance, with a maximum value of approximately $14 million, including all priced options.

The heat shield will protect the spacecraft and crew during atmospheric reentry following missions to the moon or the International Space Station. The heat shield attached at the base of the spacecraft will reject the majority of the heat generated during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Returning from missions to the station, Orion will re-enter at speeds similar to those experienced by the space shuttle - 16,700 miles an hour. Returning from the moon, Orion will reenter the atmosphere at speeds of about 25,000 miles an hour and experience heating about five times as extreme as missions returning from the station.

NASA's Constellation Program is developing Orion as NASA's primary vehicle for future human space exploration. Orion will carry astronauts to the station by 2014, with a goal of landing astronauts on the moon no later than 2020.

posted by Fergie @ 9/15/2006 05:23:00 PM