The Boeing Co. received a NASA contract to develop alternate heat shield materials for the next generation Space Shuttle, dubbed the Orion exploration spacecraft, NASA officials said on Friday.

Under the contract, Boeing and Textron Systems of Wilmington, Mass., are to develop and test three alternative heat shield materials, designs and manufacturing processes, said the officials.

Problems with the heat shield tiles on the Space Shuttle Columbia caused it to disintegrate over Texas during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003, killing all on board and shutting down the Shuttle program while NASA evaluated its safety procedures.

Orion is meant to replace the Space Shuttle and carry astronauts to the International Space Station by 2015. It is also supposed to be able to take astronauts to the moon and back by 2020.

The Orion TPS Advanced Development Project, led by Ames Research Center in the San Francisco's Moffett Field, was established to develop a heat shield to protect Orion during its return from low-Earth orbit or the moon.

In September 2006, Boeing was awarded a contract to develop the primary heat shield material, Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator, manufactured by its subcontractor, Fiber Materials, Inc., in Biddeford, Maine.

The alternate materials will be developed fully only if the primary material does not perform to Orion Project specifications, officials said.

Source: Xinhua