Dec 8, 2011

Michael Braukus Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979 michael j braukus@nasa gov

RELEASE: 11-412

NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR GARVER TOURS BLUE ORIGIN;

Announces Commercial Space Firm's April Engine Testing At NASA Stennis

WASHINGTON -- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver is visiting Blue Origin in Kent, Wash , today The company is one of NASA's commercial partners opening a new chapter in human exploration by developing innovative systems to reach low Earth orbit as part of the Commercial Crew Development Program

"Blue Origin is creating cutting edge technologies to take us to low Earth orbit," Garver said "Like all of our commercial partners, they're making real progress and opening up a new job-creating segment of the economy that will allow NASA to focus on our next big challenges -- missions to asteroids and Mars "

Garver also announced Blue Origin has delivered its BE-3 engine thrust chamber assembly -- the engine's combustion chamber and nozzle -- to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where testing will begin in April 2012 The company is developing a reusable launch vehicle, designed to take off and land vertically, and an escape system for its crewed spacecraft Testing will take place on the center's E-1 Test Stand

"We're delighted Blue Origin is taking advantage of Stennis, a center with a long record of propulsion testing from the dawn of the Space Age, to test the rocket engines of the future," Garver said

"We appreciate the opportunity to work with the depth of expertise and utilize the facilities at Stennis for our engine testing, and are glad to have the test hardware onsite and ready to go," said Rob Meyerson, president and program manager at Blue Origin

For more information about NASA's partnerships for commercial space transportation, visit:

http://www nasa gov/exploration/commercial

For more information about Blue Origin, visit:

http://www blueorigin com

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]