NASA Awards Space Shuttle Main Engine Contract Modification

HOUSTON, March 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has signed a $36.9 million contract modification to space shuttle main engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif., to provide continued shuttle main engine prelaunch and launch support from April 1 through July 31. The contract modification also provides two additional options that if exercised, would bring the potential contract amount for all six months to $56 million.

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This modification supports the flyout of the Space Shuttle Program and brings the total potential value of the contract to $2.29 billion. The original contract began on Jan. 1, 2002.

The majority of the work will take place at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's headquarters in Canoga Park.

Three main engines and two solid rocket boosters provide the thrust to launch the space shuttle. At 14-feet long and seven-and-a-half feet in diameter at the nozzle exit, the liquid propellant main engines have a combined thrust of more than 1.2 million pounds.

For more information about NASA's Space Shuttle Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

SOURCE NASA