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Hi boys and girls! We’re going back to the moon – in style!

In a contract worth $514.7 million and possibly an additional $610 million in options, Boeing has been contracted to build the upper stage rocket for the Aries I, responsible for getting astronauts and their vehicle out of Earth’s atmosphere. The Aries I launch vehicle (rocket) will thrust the Orion (6 person spacecraft) off of our humble planet and will fulfill NASA’s hope of a 2020 moon landing.

From Wiki:

“Orion will launch from the same launch complex at Kennedy Space Center that currently launches the Space Shuttle. NASA will use Orion spacecraft for its human spaceflight missions after the last Shuttle orbiter is retired in 2010. Orion is scheduled initially to handle logistic flights to the International Space Station starting at the end of 2014 or beginning of 2015, and after that it will become a key component of missions to the Moon and Mars.”

Personally, I have happy that this project is getting off the ground with few hitches and that, even with funding woes, NASA is planning well for an eventual return to the majestic days of space flight.

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