Tue, Aug 03, 2010
Lockheed Martin Commends Bi-Partisan Support For Spending
Plan
Recent action by the U.S. House and Senate NASA oversight
committees on a bi-partisan spending plan for NASA drew praise from
contractor Lockheed Martin Friday. The company, which is a primary
contractor on the Orion manned space vehicle, said the legislation
"provides an achievable path forward for a robust human space
flight program that continues the Orion crew exploration vehicle to
help achieve that goal and includes funding for advancements in
technology that will ensure U.S. leadership in space."
"We are very pleased to see strong bi-partisan support in
Congress for the nation's human exploration program and recognition
of the significant progress that has been made in developing Orion
in just four years," said John Karas, Lockheed Martin vice
president and general manager, Human Space Flight. "We commend the
cooperation between Congress and the Administration in achieving
this important step to assure continued U.S. leadership in
space."
Ground testing for major subsystems on Orion has been finished,
and Lockheed Martin says it expects to complete the critical design
review next year that will finalize 90 percent of the design. A
test of the Orion Launch Abort System was successfully conducted in
May 2010 and the NASA and industry team completed a rigorous Phase
1 safety review in early July 2010, assuring that mission critical
safety requirements have been met.
Lockheed Martin says the Orion crew spacecraft incorporates the
latest advances in human spaceflight technologies and is inherently
designed to provide the highest level of safety for the crew during
long-duration missions. The contend that continuation of the
program will enable achievement of the President's mandate for a
mission to an asteroid or other scientifically important
destinations, even before the end of this decade with the
accelerated heavy lift launch vehicle.
"These important actions by Congress with the Administration
will promote STEM education, and maintain the highly skilled
workforce and resources vital to the nation's future as the space
shuttle is retired and we transition to the next generation of
space flight systems and missions to explore beyond low Earth
orbit," added Karas.
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