spacetoday.net: NASA makes exploration program work assignments

Posted: Tue, Jun 6, 2006, 8:34 AM ET (1234 GMT)
NASA

NASA announced Monday work assignments for the development of the key components of the Constellation Program, portioning out key projects of the exploration initiative to all of the agency's field centers. The division of labor gave the biggest aspects of the program to the field centers most closely associated with human spaceflight: Johnson Space Center will be home to overall management of the Constellation Program as well as the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV); Marshall Space Flight Center will oversee development of the crew and cargo launch vehicles; and Kennedy Space Center will oversee launch and landing operations for future exploration missions. However, NASA also assigned key projects to all of its field centers, ranging from development of the CEV service module to software engineering. Separately, NASA issues a contract to Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne to begin work on the J-2X, the updated version of the Apollo-era J-2 that will be used on the upper stages of the crew and cargo launch vehicles.