NASA picks firms for crew transportation

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it has awarded $50 million in agreements to fund private industry concepts supporting astronaut transportation.

The Space Act Agreements mark the first step since President Barack Obama's Monday release of his fiscal 2011 budget request that killed NASA's planned Constellation project that was to have returned humans to the moon. The new funding supports the president's direction to foster commercial human spaceflight capabilities.

"The president has asked NASA to partner with the aerospace industry in a fundamentally new way, making commercially provided services the primary mode of astronaut transportation to the International Space Station," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "We are pleased to be able to quickly move forward to advance this exciting plan for NASA."

Through an open competition for funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, NASA awarded Space Act Agreements to Blue Origin of Kent, Wash., $3.7 million; The Boeing Co. of Houston, $18 million; the Paragon Space Development Corp. of Tucson, $1.4 million; the Sierra Nevada Corp. of Louisville, Colo., $20 million, and United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colo., $6.7 million.

The agreements are for development of crew concepts and technology demonstrations and investigations for future commercial support of human spaceflight, NASA said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/02/02/NASA-picks-firms-for-crew-transportation/UPI-22851265117767/.