NASA Will Tinker With Open-Source Rocket for Return to Moon

“The ‘brains’ of the Ares I rocket that will send four
astronauts back to the moon sometime in the next 12 years will be
built by Boeing, NASA announced today–but the specifications will
be open-source and non-proprietary, so that other companies can bid
on future contracts. The avionics unit will provide guidance,
navigation and control for the launch rocket, which will carry the
Orion crew vehicle into Earth orbit.

“‘The combined Ares I and Orion will replace the Space Shuttle
and become the workhorse that takes astronauts into space for
journeys to the Space Station, the Moon and Mars,’ said Doug Cooke,
a official with NASA’s Exploration Systems division. The Shuttle is
currently slated for retirement in 2010…”

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