Contract For Up To $154 Million Critical To Human Spaceflight

Raytheon Company has been awarded a contract valued up to $154 million over seven years to continue support at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. The NBL is a massive 6.2 million gallon instrumented pool at NASA Johnson Space Center where astronauts learn to work in space and train on a submerged full-sized mockup of the International Space Station.

The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Operations Contract continues the innovative technical and engineering support Raytheon has provided since 2003 including extending the lifecycle of the massive underwater mockups of the ISS.

"Building a safe and challenging environment for astronauts to train for the rigors of human spaceflight is a mission that Raytheon is uniquely positioned to support," said Todd Probert, vice president of Mission Support and Modernization at Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services. "Our engineering expertise and dedication to exceeding safety standards are how we will continue to support NASA's pioneering mission at the NBL."

Raytheon also helps NASA lower the overall operating costs of the facility by bringing in external customers who take advantage of the unique, fully-instrumented underwater facility. Among other uses, customers use the facility to train for operating unmanned vehicles offshore and undersea, conduct experiments in a microgravity environment and test underwater equipment.

(Image provided with Raytheon news release)

FMI: www.raytheon.com