WASHINGTON — NASA has signed a $60.3 million contract modification to space shuttle main engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Inc. of Canoga Park, Calif., to provide continued space shuttle main engine prelaunch, launch and landing support from Oct. 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011.
This action is based on an extension to the current Space Shuttle Program flight manifest launch schedule, which shifted the last two scheduled launch dates into fiscal year 2011.
This modification brings the total potential value of the contract to $2.25 billion.
The space shuttle’s three main engines, along with the 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 rocket 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
