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NASA selected six companies to design and develop prototype deep space habitats to be used sometime in the future as part of the agency’s journey to Mars.
“NASA is on an ambitious expansion of human spaceflight, including the journey to Mars, and we’re utilizing the innovation, skill and knowledge of both the government and private sectors,” said Jason Crusan, director of NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems.
The main task will be to build “habitation systems” which NASA said will allow a safe environment for humans to live as they travel to Mars.
The six selected companies helping NASA develop the Mars mission are:
Boeing of Texas
Lockheed Martin of Denver
Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas
Orbital ATK of Dulles, Virginia
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems of Louisville, Colorado
NanoRacks of Webster, Texas
In the release NASA said the firms have approximately two years to develop concept studies with a combined initial contract cost of around $65 million.
The selected partners are required to contribute at least 30 percent of the initial contract cost.
NASA expects an operational deep space habitat to be developed by the 2020s when the agency is expecting to undertake testing in an area of space near the moon.
Agencies/Canadajournal
