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Our Space Heritage

Since the beginning of the Space Age, Boeing and its predecessor companies have designed, developed, built, and operated both human and robotic space vehicles and related technology. The company's legacy began with Project Mercury and continued through the X-15, the Gemini project to Apollo, and the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). Boeing is focused on the future of human space exploration via the Commercial Crew Development program, a heavy-lift Exploration Launch System, and sustaining the ISS. All of these pursuits extend from the strong foundation on which the company has built more than 60 years of dedication to the space frontier.

Boeing's Lineage in Space

• Rockwell International Corp.'s Aerospace and Defense units (acquired in 1996)
• McDonnell Douglas Corp. (merged with Boeing in 1997)
• United Space Alliance (joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, established in 1995 to consolidate space shuttle contracts into one prime contractor)
• Rocketdyne (sold to Pratt and Whitney in 2005)

Heritage Highlights

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  The heritage units of The Boeing Company -- which today include McDonnell Douglas and the aerospace and defense units of Rockwell International -- built all the major components of the Saturn V launch vehicle, except the lunar lander. North American Aviation (NAA) and Rocketdyne, noted above, were part of Rockwell International.
  Mercury: NASA selected McDonnell to build America's first human-controlled spacecraft for Project Mercury on Jan. 12, 1959. Just a month following Yuri Gagarin's historic orbit in 1961, Alan Shepard completed a suborbital flight in a McDonnell-built Mercury spacecraft, followed by John Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth in a Mercury spacecraft in 1962.
• Gemini and Apollo: McDonnell built the two-person Gemini spacecraft for 10-piloted missions between March 23, 1965, and Nov. 11, 1966. It allowed astronauts to practice techniques for operating outside the space vehicle and for rendezvousing and docking with other spacecraft. This effort culminated with the North American Aviation (NAA) Apollo spacecraft, featuring a crew of three.
• Saturn V: The mammoth rocket, developed by Boeing, North American Aviation (later renamed Rockwell) and McDonnell Douglas, propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the moon in 1969. The entire Saturn V assembly, including the Apollo command, service and lunar module, was as tall as a 28-story building. Fifteen were built, 13 were flown and two remain on display.
• Skylab: McDonnell Douglas converted one of its Skylab V third-stage (S-IVB) rockets into Skylab, which was placed into orbit. The rocket's hydrogen tank had been converted into a two-story dwelling for a three-person crew, with sleeping quarters and storage areas for food, water and other supplies. Skylab capped the successful moon-landing program. Skylab astronauts made 10 spacewalks that included tasks to deploy the station's solar array and install a parasol sun shield to cool the station. Three long-duration flights studied the effects of space travel on the human body, made astronomical observations and performed earth sciences research.
• Space Shuttle: Through its heritage elements, Boeing developed and built the Enterprise (used for approach and landing tests only), Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour orbiters. While Rockwell designed and built the orbiters at facilities in Downey and Palmdale, Calif., McDonnell Douglas developed aft propulsion pods for orbital power and control and structural parts for the boosters. Boeing modified two 747s to transport shuttles between California and Florida and provided a 747 aircraft to help test the first shuttle. The space shuttle had its first operational mission in November 1982, when Columbia deployed two communications satellites. Boeing performed the maintenance and modifications on the fleet of orbiters until United Space Alliance (USA) was formed in 1995 and with the signing of the Space Program Operations Contract with NASA in September 1996. Today NASA, along with Boeing as a major subcontractor to USA, supports the space shuttles. Boeing provides NASA and USA with sustaining engineering, engineering support to operations -- including launch -- and overall shuttle systems and payload integration services.
• International Space Station (ISS): In August 1993, NASA selected Boeing as prime contractor for the ISS, a permanent orbiting laboratory in space and the largest international space venture ever undertaken In addition to designing and building the major U.S. elements, Boeing also is responsible for ensuring the successful integration of new hardware and software -- including components from international partners -- as well as for providing sustaining engineering work. With a "space footprint" the size of a football field including the end zones, the ISS averages an altitude of 220 statute miles. Fifteen countries have a stake in the ISS. The ISS serves as a test bed for building and maintaining large structures in space, for conducting science and technology research leading to discoveries that will benefit Earth, and for developments in future human space exploration.
• Ares I: Boeing was selected in August 2007 to produce the upper stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle, the second element in NASA's Constellation project to return humans to the moon, boosting the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. Boeing was also awarded an Instrument Unit Avionics contract in December 2007. The program has since been repurposed, but elements of the Ares I development efforts are now being harvested through the company's heavy-lift Exploration Launch System pursuit. The new heavy-lift rocket will be used for deep space exploration.
• Payloads: As the prime contractor for NASA's Checkout, Assembly & Payload Processing Services (CAPPS), Boeing is responsible for payload processing, mission cargo preparations, testing for launch vehicle compatibility, post-mission payload extraction, and operation/maintenance of associated facilities and ground systems related to the space shuttle. Over the years, some of the more unusual payloads processed for the ISS have ranged from the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990 to the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), which is named after comedian Stephen Colbert and incorporates a Boeing-built vibration isolation and stabilization system, in 2009.