NASA Eyeing Earlier Lunar Landing

摘要

ATK Thiokol is preparing to begin work on a more powerful variant of the space shuttle solid-rocket motor it has long produced as part of a streamlined NASA exploration plan that would land astronauts on the Moon in early 2017, a year earlier than previously envisioned. Thiokol is not yet under contract to design and build the five-segmented solid boosters NASA now plans to use on both its crew and lunar-cargo launchers. NASA announced in December, however, that it had se-lected the Promontory, Utah-based firm as prime contractor for the Crew Launch Vehicle's first stage. At the time, NASA still was planning to launch Moon- and space station-bound astronauts atop a rocket based on a modified version of the four-segmented booster that Thiokol has produced for the space shuttle for the past two decades.