The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced last Monday that it has selected the company to build the small rocket called the Mars Ascent Vehicle (NAV), which is planned to bring samples to Earth from the red planet Mars over the next 10 years.
The company NASA chose to build the MAV was Lockheed Martin. Thomas Zurbuchen, assistant director of scientific studies at NASA, said: “Building the MAV vehicle represents a concrete step towards not only landing on Mars, but also revealing the details of this ambitious project that we plan to launch from there. ”
The value of the contract signed with Lockheed Martin for the construction of the MAV rocket is $ 194 million
According to Zurbuchen, the concept stage of the project to bring samples from Mars has come to the end. NASA officials said that once the samples are brought back to Earth, scientists in well-equipped laboratories around the world will examine them for signs of life on Mars, the planet’s evolutionary history, and other interesting topics.
It is stated that the contract signed with Lockheed Martin for the construction of the MAV rocket has a potential value of exactly 194 million dollars. According to the contract, the construction of the rocket will begin on February 25 and will last for 6 years. During this time, Lockheed Martin will build multiple MAV rockets and conduct test flights.
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