Video Interview: Mars Phoenix Lander Ready For Liftoff

Deborah Bass, the deputy project scientist on the mission, talks about the Mars Phoenix Scout Lander's trip to find evidence of past life on the Red Planet. The lander was built by Lockheed Martin. The University of Arizona is leading the mission.

The Phoenix Mars Lander will claw into the icy soil of the Martian northern plains. The robot will investigate whether frozen water near the surface might periodically melt enough to sustain a livable environment for microbes.

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Defense Contractor Delivers Remote Minehunting Vehicle to Navy

A ceremony has marked Lockheed Martin Corp's (NYSE: LMT) delivery of the first production Remote Minehunting Vehicle (RMV) to the U.S. Navy. This delivery is a significant milestone in the development of the mine countermeasures capability for both DDG 51 Arleigh Burke class destroyers and the newer Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the contractor says.

The RMV is a semi-submersible, semi-autonomous, unmanned vehicle that tows a variable-depth sensor to detect, localize, classify and identify bottom and moored sea mines at a safe distance from friendly ships. The RMV transmits real-time mine sonar images to its host ship over a data link system. This mine reconnaissance capability will allow a naval Strike Group Commander to quickly and safely assess the threat of mines in prospectiv eareas of operations, Lockheed says.

In 2005, the Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin a low-rate initial production contract for three RMVs. In 2006, a contract for four more RMVs was awarded. Total contract value is $118 million. The RMV is produced at Lockheed Martin's Riviera Beach, Fla., facility.

The RMV is the integral mobile subsystem of the Navy's AN/WLD-1 Remote Minehunting System (RMS). The RMS includes the RMV, a launch and retrieval system for the RMV, the RMV-towed sonar sensor, advanced communications equipment and software that integrates RMS into the host ship's combat system.

The RMV is one component of the RMS which is currently installed on USS Bainbridge (DDG 96). The RMS completed an operational assessment in the summer of 2006 and a technical evaluation in March 2007. RMS is expected to conduct an operational evaluation in June of this year. The RMS is scheduled for its first operational deployment aboard USS Bainbridge in late 2007.

"The Remote Minehunting System (RMS) introduces a critical minecountermeasure capability to our forward-deployed naval forces," says Captain Joe Spitz, deputy mine earfare program manager, Program Executive Office Littoral and Mine Warfare. "Sailors now have an organic unmanned mine warfare system that will allow them to detect and classify mines froma safe distance. RMS allows the Navy to send a remotely operated vehicle into dangerous waters, keeping sailors out of the minefield."

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NASA Completes Key Review of Orion Spacecraft

NASA has established arequirements baseline for its planned new Orion crew exploration vehicle, bringing America's next human spacecraft a step closer to construction, the space agency says.

The Orion project completed its system requirements review in cooperation with its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, March 1, NASA says. The review marked the first major milestone in the Orion engineering process and provided the foundation for design, development, construction and safe operation of the spacecraft that will carry explorers to Earth orbit, tothe moon, and eventually to Mars, the space agency says. The detailed requirements established in this review will serve as the basis for ongoing design analysis work and systems testing.

"This is a significant step in the development of a space transportation system that will expand our horizons to include other worlds," says Skip Hatfield, Orion Project manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The Orion review followed an overall review of requirements for the Constellation program that was completed in November. Similar reviews are planned later this spring for ground and mission operations systems that will support Constellation launch systems and space flight operations ground infrastructure.

"We have now completed program-wide launch vehicle and human spacecraft system requirements reviews," says Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley. "These are important pieces of a management and engineering puzzle that will allow us to accomplish the goal of putting humans back on the moon."

The Orion requirements data set was reviewed by agency and contractor scientists and engineers from across the country. More than 1,700 topicscovering all aspects of vehicle performance, design and qualification werediscussed during the course of the formal review.

Once all project-level reviews are complete, the Constellation Program will hold another full review to update baseline requirements. A lunar architecture systems review of equipment associated with surface exploration and science activities on the moon is expected in the spring of 2009.

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