Debra Rahn
Headquarters, Washington, DC        December 18, 1996
(Phone:  202/358-1639)

Bruce Buckingham
Kennedy Space Center, FL
(Phone:  407/867-2468)


RELEASE:  96-264

KSC EXTENDS MCDONNELL DOUGLAS PAYLOAD CONTRACT

     NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL, has awarded McDonnell 
Douglas Aerospace, Space and Defense Systems, Huntington 
Beach, CA, a two-year extension to its existing contract for 
payload ground operations services. The value of this option 
is $245.7 million.

     This two-year extension is effective Jan. 1, 1997 and 
ends Dec. 31, 1998. This contract features options that will 
carry the contract period of performance through Dec. 31, 
2001, and will bring the total contract value to $1.9 
billion.

     This is the fourth extension of the payload ground 
operations contract awarded to McDonnell Douglas since the 
original contract was initiated in January 1987.

     Under the cost-plus-award-fee/incentive-fee performance 
based contract, McDonnell Douglas will continue to provide 
ground support, test and integration for payload operations 
at Kennedy Space Center.

                             -end-