May 4, 2007
Melissa Mathews/Beth Dickey
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1272/2087
John Bluck
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-5026
CONTRACT RELEASE: C07-23
NASA AWARDS HEAT SHIELD MATERIAL CONTRACTS FOR ORION SPACECRAFT
WASHINGTON - NASA has selected The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach,
Calif., and Textron Systems, Wilmington, Mass., to develop alternate
heat shield materials for the Orion crew exploration spacecraft.
The two contracts for Alternate Block 2 Thermal Protection System
(TPS) Materials and Heat Shield Systems Advanced Development will
support development and testing of three alternative heat shield
materials, designs and manufacturing processes. Under the contracts,
the companies will work to ensure the technologies are mature enough
to become viable backups if there are difficulties with the primary
material.
NASA's Constellation Program is developing Orion as America's primary
vehicle for future human space exploration. Orion will carry
astronauts to the International Space Station by 2015, with a goal of
landing astronauts on the moon no later than 2020. The Orion TPS
Advanced Development Project, led by Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, Calif., was established to develop a heat shield to protect
Orion during its return from low-Earth orbit or the moon.
In September 2006, Boeing was awarded a contract to develop the
primary heat shield material, Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator
(PICA), manufactured by its subcontractor, Fiber Materials, Inc.,
Biddeford, Maine. The alternate materials will be developed fully
only if the primary material does not perform to Orion Project
specifications. NASA will assess and evaluate all of the Alternate
Block 2 TPS materials through initial testing and select the most
promising of the materials for further development, if needed.
The Alternate Block 2 contract awarded to Boeing has an approximate
value of $10 million, including all options, and calls for Boeing to
perform early investigation of a proprietary material, the Boeing
Phenolic Ablator (BPA).
The contract awarded to Textron has a value of approximately $24
million, including all options, and calls for Textron Systems to
perform early investigation of two proprietary material options,
Avcoat (used on Apollo) and Dual Layer.
Each contract has a 16-month performance period from May 4, 2007,
until Aug. 31, 2008.
For more information about the Orion heat shield, see:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/research/humaninspace/cevheatshield.html For information about Orion, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/orion For information about NASA and agency programs, please visit:
http://www.nasa.gov -end-
