Oct 30 2000
From The Space Library
NASA awarded Lockheed Martin Space Systems a US$1.15 billion six-year contract to produce 35 additional super-lightweight external tanks for the Space Shuttle Program, the sixth production of tanks and the first composed entirely of super-lightweight tanks. The contract covered the manufacture, assembly, test, and delivery of the tanks, as well as the operations and maintenance of NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and activities at MSFC and KSC. Jerry W. Smelser, Manager of MSFC's External Tank Project Office, described the contract as designed to "assure the delivery of a quality product and to reward the contractor and employees on the basis of performance."
President William J. Clinton signed into law H. R. 1654, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2000, authorizing funding for "a robust space and aeronautics program for the Nation." Clinton commended bipartisan efforts to pass an authorization bill funding NASA's priorities, such as building the ISS, improving Space Shuttle safety, and using the Space Launch Initiative to reduce the cost of access to space. However, Clinton criticized the bill for limiting "NASA's flexibility to pursue a promising commercial habitation module" for the ISS, saying that the bill included several "objectionable provisions" and only one of the 14 legislative provisions that his administration had proposed.
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