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Not sure that this will get much attention but Nasa is full steam ahead.
NASA Extends Space Shuttle Main Engine Contract
NASA has signed a $975 million contract extension with Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne Inc., of Canoga Park, Calif., to maintain the agency's fleet of space shuttle main engines until the orbiter is retired in 2010.
The contract began on April 1, 2006. It is scheduled to conclude Sept. 30, 2010. The $975 million contract extension brings the total value of the cost-plus-award/incentive fee contract to slightly more than $2.05 billion.
So it takes more than a year to tell people about this??? Why?
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The Future now... with another change in direction towards using the shuttles parts to get a 70 tonne payload man capable vehicle for launching what is now the Space Launch System by Lockheed Martin-built Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), of course the money crunch is not over for Nasa and it means even more changes are a head....such as looking for another second stage booster to orbit for the MPCV as the J2 engines will not be ready due to this restricted money flow.
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Here is the close out contract
http://www.comspacewatch.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=35291
with United Space Alliance (USA) of Houston, valued at $232.9 million.
The contract covers SPOC closeout actions from Oct. 1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2013, including:
-- Making orbiters Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour safe for public display
-- Ferry operation activities for Discovery
-- Property, information technology systems and records disposition by USA
-- Subcontract closeout activities including property disposition, information technology systems disposition and records disposition by 31 subcontractors through firm-fixed-price contracts and five subcontractors through five cost-plus type contracts.
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