Automakers Looking to Shift to Space
As the nation holds its breath for the shuttle Endeavour’s landing as early as Tuesday, there are Michigan companies tracking the development of NASA’s next-generation spacecraft hoping to become part of that historic program.
By 2010, NASA plans to retire its three active space shuttles, the newest of which is 16 years old. For future exploration, NASA is developing two spacecraft to take humans and cargo to the moon.
NASA expects the vehicles to be delivered in 2013 and to reach the moon no later than 2020.
That is why aerospace experts say that now is a critical time for companies that want a stake in the future of the nearly $40-billion space sector to connect with big-league aerospace contractors such as Lockheed Martin Corp. read more.
