Lockheed Martin on Thursday won NASA's multibillion-dollar nod to build the Orion crew exploration vehicle, a spaceship with a look and a mission that echoes the space agency's giant leap to the moon in the 1960s. The announcement kicks off an effort to produce spacecraft that would replace NASA's fleet of space shuttles, due for retirement in 2010. NASA's timetable calls for the cone-shaped Orion ships to bring cargo or up to six crew members to the international space station by 2014, and carry up to four astronauts to the moon and back by 2020.

The idea for what is known as the "Scotty Rocket," came to Scott J. Horowitz and several fellow astronauts during brainstorming sessions after space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas in 2003. "The idea was 'safe, simple and soon,' " Horowitz said. Build the new rocket "in line," with the spacecraft on top so debris won't hit it during launch. Use shuttle technology whenever possible because it's already certified to carry humans. And build it with shuttle engineers -- to get it done quickly. "Quite frankly, people weren't very interested," Horowitz said. Things have changed.

A Northrop Grumman-Boeing team today unveiled its plans to design and build NASA's proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), a modular space system intended to carry humans to the International Space Station by 2012 and back to the moon by 2018. The CEV comprises a crew module that builds on NASA's Apollo spacecraft, a service module and a launch-abort system. It is designed to be carried into space aboard a shuttle-derived launch vehicle – a rocket based on the solid rocket booster technology that powers the early phases of current shuttle flights.

Squinting up into the bright sky, more than 400,000 people waited for Discovery in the California desert on that October morning in 1988. The space shuttle program had been grounded for almost three years after the Challenger disaster. But the successful flight of space shuttle Discovery felt like a new beginning to the crowd. People whooped and sobbed as the shuttle punched out two sonic booms and glided to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base. Almost 17 years later, Discovery is again returning the grounded space program to flight — this time after the loss of Columbia and its crew in February 2003.

NASA is set to begin rolling out the results of a landmark space exploration architecture study that calls for building an Apollo-like astronaut capsule and conducting up to six lunar sorties per year using rocket hardware derived from the space shuttle. Sixty days in the making, the Exploration Systems Architecture Study will go a long way toward defining the approach and the hardware NASA will use to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020, and eventually go on to Mars.

According to a new NASA study, when America goes back to the moon and on to Mars it will do so with hardware that looks very familiar. NASA has decided to build two new launch systems - both of which will draw upon existing Space Shuttle hardware. One vehicle will be a cargo-only heavy lifter, the other will be used to launch the Crew Exploration Vehicle.

Transformational Space Corp. (t/Space), a company founded in response to the new U.S. vision for space exploration, thinks it can help NASA close the gap between retiring the space shuttle fleet and fielding a Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) to carry astronauts beyond Earth's orbit. The Reston, Va.-based company already already convinced NASA to give it $6 million in exchange for advice on how the U.S. space agency can reach beyond the traditional aerospace industry to answer a presidential call to return to the Moon by 2020. Now t/Space is hoping to convince NASA to part with $400 million in exchange for an Earth-to-orbit crew transfer vehicle, which company executives say they can have ready in 2008.

When NASA requested designs for a Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), two major teams--one headed by Lockheed Martin and one by Northrop Grumman and Boeing--took on the challenge. The winning concept will be chosen in 2008, and the manned vehicle flown in 2014.

Northrop Grumman and Boeing, who are teaming to design and build NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), Tuesday unveiled the major companies that will support their efforts to fulfill the nation's Vision for Space Exploration.

About one of every seven NASA workers nationwide will be transferred or paid to leave in the next 1 1/2 years as the space agency focuses on President Bush's moon-Mars exploration plan, officials said Thursday. However, many of those who depart likely will be replaced by new workers with skills more closely aligned with the new, deep space mission. NASA employs about 18,900 government workers.

Replanting boot prints on the Moon. Hurling expeditionary crews to distant and dusty Mars and other destinations. Executing a 21st century outreach campaign to faraway worlds demands a safe, sustainable, and affordable transport vehicle system. In January 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush set NASA in motion to begin developing a new spaceship to carry humans into Earth orbit and beyond. Tagged the Crew Exploration Vehicle, CEV for short, it would be the first piloted vehicle to explore beyond Earth orbit since the space agency’s Apollo glory days.

While NASA fared better than many federal agencies in U.S. President George W. Bush's 2006 budget request, the White House is not seeking as much money for the U.S. space agency as previously planned. The White House is seeking $16.45 billion for NASA in the 2006 budget. That's an increase of 2.4 percent over what the U.S. space agency has in its 2005 budget, but still about $500 million less than what the agency had been expecting.

If NASA is ever able to put a man on the moon again, or on Mars, it's very likely that the agency will owe a bit of thanks to a small Maryland video-game developer. In recent months, Vision Videogames has been putting the finishing touches on SpaceStationSim, a game timed for publication when the next space shuttle launches, supposedly this spring. As its title suggests, the game lets players pretend they're astronauts on the International Space Station in a 3-D, simulated environment. But pure fantasy this is not. In fact, Vision Videogames designed the game using technical specifications from NASA as part of a Space Act agreement. And now the company is under contract to play a crucial role in the development of the crew exploration vehicles, or CEVs, that could someday prowl around the moon or Mars.

Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB - News) announced today that it has joined a Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT - News) led "all-star" team of aerospace industry innovators competing to design and build NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). Orbital's teaming agreement with Lockheed Martin continues the company's history as a key participant in the development of a next-generation human space transportation system. In chronological order, Orbital has contributed to NASA's Space Transportation Architecture Studies, the Space Launch Initiative, and, most recently, the Orbital Space Plane program, all of which have led to the decision by NASA to develop and build the CEV.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) have completed and signed a formal agreement to compete as a team for NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and related human lunar exploration systems. Under the agreement, Northrop Grumman will serve as the team's leader and prime contractor during the initial development phase of the CEV, known as Spiral 1. During this period, which will demonstrate the CEV's ability to operate safely with astronauts in low-Earth orbit, Boeing will serve as Northrop Grumman's teammate and principal subcontractor. During Spiral 2, which will begin the expansion of human space exploration to the moon and beyond, Boeing will serve as prime contractor for the lunar mission elements. For this work, Northrop Grumman will serve as Boeing's teammate and principal subcontractor. A formal request for proposals to begin development of the CEV system is expected from NASA in March. The space agency is expected to award two CEV system development and demonstration contracts by late summer.