Northrop Grumman/Boeing Team Unveils CEV Design

摘要

The Northrop Grumman and Boeing team competing to build NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) unveiled a design Oct. 12 that echoes the Apollo-like ap-proach the agency adopted for its planned return to the Moon. While the team's CEV closely resembles the Apollo vehicle, Northrop and Boeing officials said they have made numerous modifi-cations to increase mission flexi-bility and safety as NASA gears up to replace the aging space shuttle. The Northrop/Boeing team is competing against Lockheed Martin to design and build NASA's next-generation space vehicle, which is expected to transport astronauts to the international space station, the Moon and eventually Mars. Northrop Grumman officials estimate the winning team will need to construct three to five CEVs in a year with different functionalities depending on how frequently NASA wants to fly.