By midnight, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration will learn how many U.S. interests intend to bid on the first study contracts under Project Constellation.

Constellation is the name of the program that aims to fulfill the first part of President George W. Bush's mandate on space exploration that he announced Jan. 14.

The midnight deadline is for industry and others interested in bidding on a pair of broad agency announcements, or BAAs, released last month. They asking for concept studies for the proposed crew exploration vehicle - the spacecraft intended to superseded the aging space shuttle fleet - as well as a broader examination to help NASA craft a plan for human exploration of the moon.

The responses will indicate to NASA's Office of Exploration Systems which companies, universities, research centers or non-profit institutions expect to bid for one or both of the BAA contracts. The bidding deadline is July 16 and the awards are scheduled to be announced Sept. 1.

Under the terms NASA has laid out, each of the study contracts will be worth up to $1 million for a six-month period, with an option to extend for another six months and another $1 million. If a firm or institution wishes to bid on both studies, the value could reach $3 million for the first six-months and another $3 million for the extension option.

The first study addresses a preliminary concept for human exploration of the lunar surface. The study would detail an early look at what humans should attempt to accomplish on the moon. It would include an outline of potential issues related to:

The study also would address how to design equipment and features that could be evolved for future use in a manned landing on Mars, and it would provide a general review of potential scientific information that lunar astronauts could gather.

The second study would address the CEV itself. It would answer questions such as:

Other design issues to be addressed would include CEV features for orbital flights vs. others needed for the moon-landing version of the ship. The study would examine different sizes for the CEV, to see what number of astronauts would be best for orbital, lunar or interplanetary missions.

The technologies developed in the program will underpin and advance the U.S. economy and help ensure national security, said retired Adm. Craig E. Steidle, head of the exploration office. On Aug. 1, his office becomes part of NASA's transformation plan announced last week, becoming the Exploration Mission Directorate.

Steidle said foreign companies or governments were welcome to bid on the studies, but they would have to partner with an American firm. He also said his office currently was drafting guidelines to allow individual international companies to bid for future work under the Constellation program.

As of the end of June, Steidle said, NASA had no funds to pay for the twin contracts. The new space plan's proposed budget needs to survive the congressional appropriations process.

If it does, the contract awards would precede by a month the start of the federal government's new fiscal year on Oct. 1, so NASA would pay for the studies out of its FY 2005 funds. If not, either the studies will be canceled or unspent money from other 2003 or 2004 NASA accounts would be redirected to the exploration effort.

Steidle's office was set up by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe on Jan. 15, the day after Bush's space announcement. Funding to pay for Steidle and his team and their early work on Constellation has been redirected from other NASA programs.

This includes millions redirected from the Space Launch Initiative and a program to develop next-generation rocket engines, both of whom O'Keefe canceled following the announcement of Bush's new space proposal.

If the program is funded by Congress and advances this fall, NASA in January, 2005, will issue the first request for proposals for an Earth-orbit prototype.

The agency plans two awards, with each contractor building a stripped-down spaceship that would fly into space for testing and flight trials. After such test flights, currently scheduled for 2008, one of the contractors would build a crewed version.

Steidle said NASA had not yet worked out how it would buy launching rockets to carry the CEVs into Earth orbit.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2004 by United Press International. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by United Press International. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of by United Press International. Related Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only