Contractors Preserving Constellation Funds To Pay for Program Closeout

摘要

Lockheed Martin could be forced to slow or stop work on the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle this spring in order to preserve enough money to cover the cost of shutting down the project as soon as this fall, according to congressional sources.rnOrion and the rest of NASA's Constellation program are slated to end in 2011 as the U.S. space agency seeks to outsource human spaceflight to a fledgling commercial space sector.rnWhile NASA is asking Congress for $2.5 billion to shutter Constellation, agency officials say they do not know whether that money will be enough to pay for the government's closeout costs and still cover the termination expenses NASA contractors would incur as a result of having to cancel orders, vacate leases and pink-slip employees when the program is ordered shutdown.