Nasa will continue receiving support from Computer Sciences Corporation for the maintenance of aircraft used for astronaut training and flight research under a new follow-on contract.

The $163m contract is a part of the aircraft maintenance and modification programme to provide flight line, intermediate and depot level maintenance, repairs, modifications and engineering support for Nasa aircraft.

The aircraft are in use at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center, operations and facilities in El Paso, Edwards Air Force Base, Dryden Flight Research Center and Langley Research Center.

The follow-on contract extends the primary contract signed in March 2004 through to February 2010 and has two one-year options for further extension.