[10-16-07 – Satellite Today]  Benham Companies LLC, a subsidiary of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), has been awarded a $51.4 million contract by NASA to design, engineer and build two testing facilities, SAIC announced Oct. 16.

Benham will design and build a reverberant acoustic test facility, a 20-foot diameter mechanical vibration platform, a high-speed data acquisition system and control systems for the Orion spacecraft, which will carry astronauts to the International Space Station and the moon.

These two testing facilities and the other facilities being readied under separate efforts will allow the Orion spacecraft, consisting of the launch abort system and the crew and service modules, to undergo thermal-vacuum, acoustic, mechanical vibration and electromagnetic compatibility evaluations.

These facilities also will support NASA’s Constellation Program’s future spacecraft and other systems required for exploration missions to the moon, Mars and other destinations in the solar system.