Orion has a home

Lockheed Martin Corporation was awarded the prime contract for the Orion manned space vehicle today. The move is interesting since most analysts predicted the Northrop Grumman/Boeing team would win the contract considering their experience with manned spaceflight and heritage from the Apollo program. Instead NASA has opted to give the work to the largest defense contractor in the nation that specializes in unmanned rocketry. The contract award is the beginning of an ambitious project that could last until at least 2019 and end up doling out nearly $10 billion. Here's hoping all goes well.