McDonnell Gets In on Moon Project

McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co.’s division in Houston on Wednesday won a contract worth up to $20 million to provide technical support for NASA’s long-term plans to build a base on the moon and eventually explore Mars.

Space Systems won the two-year contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The contract has options for three additional years.

Under the contract, Huntington Beach-based Space Systems will be the technical support contractor for the Bush Administration’s Space Exploration Initiative to establish a manned base on the moon and explore Mars in the next century. The contract is the first of its kind.

Space Systems will help NASA define the mission, provide engineering support for the program, and determine its feasibility.

Subcontractors on the contract include: Honeywell Inc. of Clearwater, Fla.; General Electric of Cherry Hill, N.J.; MK-Ferguson of Cleveland, and IBM, Eagle Engineering, GHG Corp. and Syscom, all of Houston.