Boeing awarded NASA contract to build Ares 1 Instrument Unit Avionics ring

William Atkins
Thursday, 13 December 2007 03:42

Science - Space

Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) will be heading up the project for Boeing. The space and defense business arm of Boeing is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. It has about 72,000 employees worldwide, performing about $32.4 billion of business annually.

Project Constellation is NASA’s program to return U.S. astronauts to the Moon in the twenty-first century, around the timeframe of 2019-2020, after over a forty-five-year absence of a human presence on the surface of the Moon. NASA last landed humans on the Moon on December 11, 1972, with the Apollo 17 mission.

In addition, Boeing was selected in August 2007 as the Ares 1 Upper Stage Production contractor. According to the Boeing website “Integrated Defense Systems: Constellation, Overview,” Roger A. Krone, president of Boeing Network and Space Systems, stated, "We are ready to use Boeing's knowledge, processes and tools to NASA's advantage and are committed to bringing the best of Boeing and the best of Industry to ensure success. We will apply proven practices and expertise from several Boeing programs, including EA-18G Growler, Future Combat Systems and Ground-based Midcourse Defense, among others."

Further information about the NASA IUA contract is available at the Boeing websites: http://www.boeing.com/nosearch/aresIUA and http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/constellation/index.html.