Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 11-412
NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR GARVER TOURS BLUE ORIGIN;
Announces Commercial Space Firm's April Engine Testing At NASA Stennis
WASHINGTON -- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver is visiting Blue
Origin in Kent, Wash., today. The company is one of NASA's commercial
partners opening a new chapter in human exploration by developing
innovative systems to reach low Earth orbit as part of the Commercial
Crew Development Program.
"Blue Origin is creating cutting edge technologies to take us to low
Earth orbit," Garver said. "Like all of our commercial partners,
they're making real progress and opening up a new job-creating
segment of the economy that will allow NASA to focus on our next big
challenges -- missions to asteroids and Mars."
Garver also announced Blue Origin has delivered its BE-3 engine thrust
chamber assembly -- the engine's combustion chamber and nozzle -- to
NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where testing will begin
in April 2012. The company is developing a reusable launch vehicle,
designed to take off and land vertically, and an escape system for
its crewed spacecraft. Testing will take place on the center's E-1
Test Stand.
"We're delighted Blue Origin is taking advantage of Stennis, a center
with a long record of propulsion testing from the dawn of the Space
Age, to test the rocket engines of the future," Garver said.
"We appreciate the opportunity to work with the depth of expertise and
utilize the facilities at Stennis for our engine testing, and are
glad to have the test hardware onsite and ready to go," said Rob
Meyerson, president and program manager at Blue Origin.
For more information about NASA's partnerships for commercial space
transportation, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial
For more information about Blue Origin, visit:
-end-
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