NASA announces next transportation system

NASA has decided on the next U.S. transportation system that will take humans to space. According to the press release, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden made the announcement today that a new spacecraft called the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) will be developed.

The Lockheed Martin Corporation is responsible for developing this spacecraft that will be able to carry a crew of four on twenty-one-day missions. In today’s announcement, Bolden said, “The NASA Authorization Act lays out a clear path forward for us by handing off transportation to the International Space Station to our private sector partners, so we can focus on deep space exploration. As we aggressively continue our work on a heavy lift launch vehicle, we are moving forward with an existing contract to keep development of our new crew vehicle on track.”

The Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle will be based on designs originally planned for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.