NASA awards Landsat Data Continuity Mission accommodation study (Forwarded)

Michelle Jones
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md May 14, 2007
301-286-8102

RELEASE: 07-19

NASA AWARDS LANDSAT DATA CONTINUITY MISSION ACCOMMODATION STUDY

GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Rapid Spacecraft
Development Office (RSDO) awarded delivery orders to four contractors
for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Spacecraft Accommodation
Study on April 30.

"The LDCM project is excited about working with industry during this
initial phase of the spacecraft procurement," said Bill Ochs, LDCM
project manager.

Delivery orders for the four-month effort were awarded to Ball Aerospace
Technologies Corporation, Boulder, Colo.; General Dynamics Advanced
Information Systems, Gilbert, Ariz.; Orbital Sciences Corporation,
Dulles, Va.; and Space Systems/Loral, Palo Alto, Calif.

The participants will each study how their spacecraft can accommodate
the mission-unique requirements of the LDCM Operational Land Imager
(OLI) instrument, and provide a point design of the implementation. The
studies will also address specific LDCM implementation and architecture
issues, mission integration and tests, and several other programmatic
items.

A "Request for Offer" to implement the spacecraft is planned for release
in the fall to select the contractor who will build the spacecraft,
integrate the OLI, provide launch support, and oversee mission
operations for the first ninety days after launch.

LDCM will ensure the image records of the previous Landsat satellites
operated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) over the past 30
years continue into the next decade. The LDCM project is managed by
Goddard's LDCM Project Office. USGS's Center for Earth Resources and
Observation Science is responsible for managing, developing, and
implementing LDCM operations.

For more information about the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, please
visit on the Web:
http://ldcm.gsfc.nasa.gov/

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov