NASA Awards Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, Space Vehicle Mockup Facility Support Contract

WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded a contract to Raytheon Technical
Services Co. of Webster, Texas, to operate, maintain and provide
sustaining engineering at the Johnson Space Center's Neutral Buoyancy
Laboratory and Space Vehicle Mockup Facility in Houston.
The contract has a maximum value of $119.9 million.

The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, or NBL, includes a large pool where
astronauts use pressurized spacesuits to train for spacewalks. The
NBL, which has underwater mockups of the space shuttle and
International Space Station modules, simulates the weightless
environment of space. The Space Vehicle Mockup Facility also is used
to train astronauts for their missions. It includes full-scale
simulators of the shuttle, station and Soyuz spacecraft. Both
facilities are managed by Johnson's Mission Operations Directorate.

The contract's three-year base period is valued at $67.6 million with
two one-year options totaling $52.3 million. The base period extends
from Oct. 1, 2010, through Sept. 30, 2013. If both options are
exercised the contract will extend through Sept. 30, 2015.

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http://www.nasa.gov

Source: NASA