Dec 28 2010
NASA has awarded $500,000 supply orders to three firms to assist in the development of vehicle capabilities and exhibit end-to-end robotic lunar landing operations. NASA’s orders are part of its Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD) project. The Exploration Missions and Systems Office at Johnson Space Center, NASA is handling the ILDD contracts.
Dynetics, Astrobotic Technology and Moon Express are the companies chosen by NASA. The firms are among six that earned the ILDD contracts in October 2010. Following the ILDD Broad Agency declaration, NASA issued six company-fixed price contracts totaling $30.1 million for a period of five years.
Following the contracts, every ILDD contractor presented System Definition Review (SDR) packages that described their major risks. In November 2010, NASA invited the ILDD contractors to suggest task plans for data delivery related to a key component demonstration test, which addresses the SDR risk items. The three companies will need to offer data that has captured such results.
The ILDD contracts will also offer consequent delivery orders, which will indicate the data related with system integration and testing, launch, in-space maneuvers, lunar landing, braking burns and other improved functionalities. Facts gained from this information will be implemented to the lander systems development, which is important to carry out robotic and human missions to the near-Earth asteroids, moon or other solar systems. The data will facilitate NASA's efforts to allow sustainable and cost-effective space missions.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov