USA positioning itself for post-shuttle work

United Space Alliance is not resigning itself to fade into oblivion post-shuttle.

The contractor responsible for the care and feeding of the space shuttle orbiters on a daily basis is positioning itself to become the "operator" of NASA's next fleet.

To that end, USA named Anne Martt a vice president and Constellation Program Manager. She'll be responsible for handling USA's transition of workers, facilities and other assets from the space shuttle and station programs to the new exploration program.

USA, a 50-50 partnership between aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed, has been saying for some time it envisions itself as the "operator" for the Crew Exploration Vehicle just as it has been for the space shuttle since the mid-1990s.

USA President and CEO Mike McCulley is reiterating that in the appointment of Martt, whose past jobs including running the space shuttle upgrades program and a business development post chasing work for the space alliance on new NASA programs.

But McCulley notes that the company also intends to play a role in systems development and engineering as well. Martt starts the new job immediately.