NASA has selected three aerospace firms to...

NASA has selected three aerospace firms to draw up plans for a proposed vehicle that would have two to three times the payload capability of the present shuttle. Shuttle-C, for cargo, would use the shuttle’s booster rockets and engines alone--without the manned orbiter--to lift up to 150,000 pounds of cargo into space. Each firm will negotiate for contracts worth about $1.5 million for the four-month study. They are Martin Marietta Manned Space Systems, New Orleans; Rockwell International, Downey, and United Technologies Corp.’s USBI Booster Production Co., Huntsville, Ala.