March 22, 2006<br /><br />Dolores Beasley<br />Headquarters, Washington<br />Phone: (202) 358-1600<br /><br />Kim Newton<br />Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.<br />Phone: (256) 544-0034<br /><br />RELEASE: 06-103<br /><br />NASA'S EXPLORATION SYSTEMS PROGRESS REPORT<br /><br />NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington has<br />issued a Request for Information. It asks the aerospace industry for<br />input regarding the strategy of a key element of a new spacecraft<br />intended to lift American explorers toward the moon and Mars.<br /><br />The component is the second or upper stage of the Crew Launch Vehicle,<br />the successor to the space shuttle and the anticipated flagship in<br />NASA's next-generation space fleet.<br /><br />The upper stage is in development by the Constellation Systems Launch<br />Vehicles Project Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in<br />Huntsville, Ala. The upper stage component is expected to be<br />propelled by a J-2X engine fueled with liquid oxygen and liquid<br />hydrogen. The J-2X is an evolved and improved version of the powerful<br />upper stage engine that propelled the Apollo-era Saturn 1B and Saturn<br />V rockets to the moon.<br /><br />In the request NASA encourages respondents to offer ideas to<br />anticipated technical and business challenges. NASA would like to<br />know the possible benefits from combining proposed avionics or<br />on-board electrical flight controls and guidance systems into the<br />procurement of overall upper-stage production support.<br /><br />NASA also seeks feedback related to design and specification sharing<br />among participants, commonality of design tools and software, methods<br />of reducing component life-cycle costs, and seamless transition of<br />contractual arrangements.<br /><br />The request is intended solely to obtain information that will help<br />NASA define its upper stage acquisition strategy development effort.<br />NASA will not issue any contracts based on this request.<br /><br />An update to development design and strategy progress followed by a<br />question and answer session is scheduled for industry during an open<br />house event at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, April<br />18-19. Michoud is one of the facilities selected to manufacture and<br />assemble the Crew Launch Vehicle upper stage.<br /><br />The Crew Launch Vehicle is part of NASA's mission to develop a<br />cost-effective, next-generation space transportation system. The<br />system will, in keeping with the Vision for Space Exploration, safely<br />and reliably take human explorers to the moon, Mars and on into the<br />solar system.<br /><br />In addition to its primary mission - carrying crews of four to six<br />astronauts into Earth orbit - the vehicle's 25-ton payload capacity<br />also may be used to bring resources and supplies to the International<br />Space Station or to exploration teams traveling to and from the moon.<br /><br /><br />Crew transportation to the space station is planned for no later than<br />2014. The first lunar excursion is scheduled as early as 2020. The<br />Crew Launch Vehicle effort is led for NASA's Exploration Systems<br />Mission Directorate by the Constellation Systems Launch Vehicles<br />Project Office at Marshall.<br /><br />The request for information is available on the Web, at:<br /><br /> http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/synopsis.cgi?acqid=119491 <br /><br />For information about NASA's exploration programs on the Web, visit:<br /><br /> http://www.nasa.gov/exploration <br /><br />For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:<br /><br /> http://www.nasa.gov/home