CEV-Orion contractor selected Options

[Bill Harris]

From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 Lockheed Martin won a multibillion-dollar contract from NASA on Thursday to build the nation's next spaceship for human flight, a craft called Orion that is to replace the space shuttle and eventually carry astronauts to the moon and beyond.

"Orion" is an odd name to have selected. That is a 1950's concept spacecraft powered by a series of atomic bombs exploding behind a blast shield attached to the ship. Too Dr Strangelove-ish for my tastes...

--Bill

[dvandorn]

Trust me, Bill, they didn't name Orion after the defunct atom-bomb-powered spacecraft concept. It was named after the constellation, just as the Apollo 16 Lunar Module "Orion" was named after the constellation.

And while Voyager was originally the name of a Saturn V-launched probe to land on and search for life on Mars, no one seemed to think it inappropriate that we actually sent two Voyagers to the outer planets.

Although, speaking of re-using names over the course of both proposed and actual spacecraft, I think that NASA would be wise to retire the space shuttle Endeavour before the other two. You see, the two shuttles that have been lost were named Challenger and Columbia, each name having been used for Apollo modules (Columbia was the Apollo 11 CSM and Challenger was the Apollo 17 LM). Endeavour, in addition to being the last space shuttle built, was also the Apollo 15 CSM. If the two-point graph pattern extends to a third point, the fallacy of statistics suggests that Endeavour will be the next shuttle to be lost...

-the other Doug

[karolp]

Or rather they named it after the fictional spaceship Orion (German sci-fi TV series) or the one from Stargate: Atlantis. Naming real spaceships after those from Stargate universe is a particularly bad idea as they cancelled the Project Prometheus:



named after this:

[Guest_Myran_*]

Ahh yes Raumpatrouille, remember that one, black&and white and noisy image but I did follow it semi-regularily when it aired a long time ago.

[djellison]

The choice of Lo-Mart for CEV was obvious once you consider that N-G-Boe was always going to do the 'LEM' section of VSE.

Doug

[dvandorn]

Interesting reversal, that. LockMart, IIRC, incorporates what used to be Grumman Aerospace, the builder of Apollo's LM, while Boeing incorporates what used to be North American Aviation/North American Rockwell/Rockwell International, which built Apollo's CSM. Now they've switched roles...?

-the other Doug

[Jim from NSF.com]

The choice of Lo-Mart for CEV was obvious once you consider that N-G-Boe was always going to do the 'LEM' section of VSE.

Doug

No they aren't. NG/Boeing is not guaranteed anything

[Jim from NSF.com]

Interesting reversal, that. LockMart, IIRC, incorporates what used to be Grumman Aerospace, the builder of Apollo's LM, while Boeing incorporates what used to be North American Aviation/North American Rockwell/Rockwell International, which built Apollo's CSM. Now they've switched roles...?

-the other Doug

Incorrect. The losing team was Northrop Grumman with Boeing as a sub. Both were maker of the Apollo spacecraft. LM has yet to make a manned spacecraft.

[dvandorn]

Thanks, Jim -- there have been so many mergers of the various aerospace companies I knew back in the 60s through the 80s, it can be hard to keep up with who used to be what, anymore...

Again, thanks!

-the other Doug

[djellison]

. NG/Boeing is not guaranteed anything

Oh - I totally agree.

However - the pie has to be cut up between the major players, and I would be shocked to see the 'LEM' contract go anywhere else.

I did like KC's prediction before the announcement which was basically that one or more groups would get the contract for some or all of it...i.e. every possible base covered

In an ideal world the contracts would be given to whoever provides the best technical proposal...but the world is far from ideal.

DOug

[nprev]

Kind of feel sorry for NG...they rented a building in El Segundo, CA right across the street from Los Angeles AFB & installed all these cool models of the CEV, LM, etc. (maybe 1/8th scale...they're big) on pylons right in front of the main entrance. Guess I'll wait a few days before stopping by & asking if they want to sell them...

[Drkskywxlt]

I'm sure Lockheed is slathering at the mouth at the thought of yet another huge gov't project. I hope this one is different, however, in that their feet are held to the fire more if they are late or overbudget.

I'm glad NASA is also investing in small companies like SpaceX with COTS. We need to break the strangehold the big aerospace companies have on gov't contracts and get capitalism back into the mix.

[Steffen]

The new capsule certainly looks huge !