NASA farms out moon rocket

Current Event 3

Soc 202-02

Usman Baig


NASA gave a multibillion dollar contract to Lockheed Martin Corp, to build the Orion crew vehicle which will be replaced the space shuttle fleet and take astronauts to moon and possibly on to Mars. Company Lockheed Martin Corp is best known for building several unmanned probes. The first test flight could be in 2014 and astronauts could return to moon by 2020. This is the biggest project since 1980’s NASA has spent billions of dollars on shuttle follow-up ships but none of them were completed due to technical problems. This project is part of President Bush’s massive exploration plan. It would put astronauts on the moon since 1972 and could send people to Mars. It will power the Orion capsule and a cargo vehicle into orbit. This program will reduce the risk of fatal accidents to astronauts. The new Orion spaceship will look very familiar to the baby boomer set. NASA wants contractors to build a capsule that looks just like Apollo and possibly will cary four astronauts to the moon and six to the international space station. I was amazed when I read this news I didn’t believe that technology has grown so fast and people would spend billions of dollars to make a spaceship which could take years to build and there’s a fifty-fifty chance of success. I think it’s pretty neat because it would help generations to come and go to space and other planets to explore the universe. I hope to see one day an ordinary person taking a flight to Mars or moon which definitely be expensive.


Citation: Associated Press, “NASA farms out moon rocket” CNN August 31, 2006

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/08/31/moon.rocket.ap/index.html