Article Posted on : - Apr 05, 2010

The above image shows the propulsion system on an engineering model of NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander. A NASA Photo.

WASHINGTON (BNS): NASA has awarded propulsion research contracts to five firms to provide air-breathing engine technologies in support of aerospace propulsion research and technology development activities at the agency's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

The five contracts signed are worth a total of $250 million.

The companies selected are GE Aviation of Cincinnati; Honeywell of Phoenix; United Technologies Corporation, Pratt & Whitney Military Engines of East Hartford, Connecticut; Rolls-Royce, North American Technologies, Inc. Liberty Works of Indianapolis; and Williams International of Walled Lake, Michigan, according to a news report by NASA.

The aerospace companies selected will perform variety of tasks such as concept development and systems studies, high power density engine turbomachinery, advanced combustors and alternative fuels, low noise propulsion technologies, inlets and nozzles, variable and hybrid engine systems, integrated component technology demonstrations, engine icing, materials and structures, and instrumentation, controls and communication.

The work will provide for the development and demonstration of advanced turbine engine technologies to enhance aviation safety and reduce aircraft emissions, noise and fuel burning, concluded the report.

The propulsion contracts which were announced on March 26 have also taken into consideration other cost-cutting measures, said Karin E. Huth of NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.