[meteorite-list] Contracts Awarded For Mars Ascent Vehicle Concept Studies

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:43:35 2004
Message-ID: <200107261711.KAA29632_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Contact: Mary Hardin (818) 354-0344

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 26, 2001

CONTRACTS AWARDED FOR MARS ASCENT VEHICLE CONCEPT STUDIES

     NASA's Mars Technology Program at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has awarded three industry
contracts for the development of concepts for a small
rocket that will lift science samples gathered by NASA's
Mars Sample Return mission from the Martian surface and
support their return to Earth.

     A panel consisting of propulsion experts including NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center and JPL selected these companies
from the five that responded to the request for proposals.
The awardees are:

- Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, Calif.
- Lockheed Martin Corporation, Denver, Colo.
- TRW, Redondo Beach, Calif.

     The contracts are valued at $300,000 each and are to be
performed over a six-month period. These studies will provide
independent concepts and technology roadmaps to develop a Mars
Ascent Vehicle for the Mars Sample Return mission. Concepts
emerging from these studies will contribute to the final
specifications for the eventual Mars Ascent Vehicle.

     "The Mars Exploration Program is looking at a wide variety
of ideas and concepts to conduct the Mars Sample Return mission.
A small, reliable launch vehicle that would launch collected
samples from the Martian surface months after initial arrival is
considered one of the key building blocks requiring development.
Launch of a sample return mission is scheduled for no sooner than
2011," said Dr. Samad Hayati, manager of the Mars Technology Program
at JPL.

     For more information about the Mars Exploration Program,
go to:

     http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov .

     JPL manages the Mars Exploration Program for NASA's Office
of Space Science, Washington D.C. JPL is a division of the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

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Received on Thu 26 Jul 2001 01:11:30 PM PDT