Lockheed Gets $485M From NASA To Create MAVEN Craft

coondoggie writes to tell us that Lockheed Martin has landed a $485 million contract to create the spacecraft for NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) project. "MAVEN is the second mission in NASA's Mars Scout Program — a series of small, low-cost, principal investigator-led missions to the Red Planet, NASA said. The Phoenix Mars Lander was the first mission under the program. Lockheed Martin is the industry partner on the Phoenix mission. It designed and built the spacecraft, and also provided flight operations and currently surface operations for the lander. The mission has been extended through Sept. 30, 2008."

Comments

Re:half a billion dollars for what exactly?

[Vagnaard]

Well, don't blame me, I'm Canadian. The problem I see with your economy is that a gamble was made and lost. Then a second gamble was made and lost. Afghanistan and Iraq could have been good for the United States economy but it ended up dragging on for 10 years. This, combined with the recent mess up with mortgage market resulted in your current situation. But, the fact is that the United State saw worst, and came back stronger. Why? Because they continued to invest in the future, to spend money in risky in place and make profit out of it... Think about it, spending your money wisely is about not losing it. Spending your money recklessly is about profit.