Northrop Grumman (Herndon, VA) announced that it has been awarded a NASA contract, worth about $400 million, to develop a preliminary design for an electric propulsion vehicle powered by a nuclear reactor. The company said the contract award will cover work through mid-2008.
Northrop Grumman said the Prometheus Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter would orbit Jupiter's three ice-covered Galilean moons and gather data to help scientists understand the moons' origin and evolution. Northrop Grumman said the orbiter would have 100 times more usable onboard power than any previous probe.
