ISS, Lunar Configurations To Be Produced By Houston Firm
NASA has awarded a contract to Oceaneering International Inc. of
Houston, TX for the design, development and production of a new
spacesuit system. The spacesuit will protect astronauts during
Constellation Program voyages to the International Space Station
and, by 2020, the surface of the moon.
The subcontractors to Oceaneering are Air-Lock Inc. of Milford,
CT; David Clark Co. of Worcester, MA; Cimarron Software Services
Inc. of Houston; Harris Corporation of Palm Bay, FL; Honeywell
International Inc. of Glendale, Ariz., Paragon Space Development
Corp. of Tucson, AZ; and United Space Alliance of Houston.
"The award of the spacesuit contract
completes the spaceflight hardware requirements for the
Constellation Program's first human flight in 2015," said Jeff
Hanley, Constellation program manager at NASA's Johnson Space
Center in Houston. Contracts for the Orion crew capsule and the
Ares I rocket were awarded during the past two years.
The cost-plus-award-fee spacesuit contract includes a basic
performance period from June 2008 to September 2014 that has a
value of $183.8 million. During the performance period, Oceaneering
and its subcontractors will conduct design, development, test, and
evaluation work culminating in the manufacture, assembly, and first
flight of the suit components needed for astronauts aboard the
Orion crew exploration vehicle. The basic contract also includes
initial work on the suit design needed for the lunar surface.
"I am excited about the new partnership between NASA and
Oceaneering," said Glenn Lutz, project manager for the spacesuit
system at Johnson. "Now it is time for our spacesuit team to begin
the journey together that ultimately will put new sets of boot
prints on the moon."
Suits and support systems will be needed for as many as four
astronauts on moon voyages and as many as six space station
travelers. For short trips to the moon, the suit design will
support a week's worth of moon walks. The system also must be
designed to support a significant number of moon walks during
potential six-month lunar outpost expeditions. In addition, the
spacesuit and support systems will provide contingency spacewalk
capability and protection against the launch and landing
environment, such as spacecraft cabin leaks.
Two contract options may be awarded in the future as part of
this contract. Option 1 (shown at top) covers completion of design,
development, test and evaluation for the moon surface suit
components. Option 1 would begin in October 2010 and run through
September 2018, under a cost-plus-award fee structure with a total
value of $302.1 million.
Option 2 (shown above) provides for the Orion suit production,
processing and sustaining engineering under a cost-plus-award fee
or a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity
contract structure with a maximum value of $260 million depending
on hardware requirements. Option 2 would begin at the end of the
basic performance period in October 2014, and would continue
through September 2018.