Posted: Thu, Nov 13, 2003, 10:37 AM ET (1537 GMT)

NASA awarded a contract potentially worth $178 million Wednesday for support of the International Space Station program. Applied Research and Engineering Sciences Corporation won the ISS Program Integration and Control (PIC) contract, leading a team that included Booz-Allen Hamilton and Spacehab. The contract covers a variety of products and services that support the ISS program, including information technology, risk management, and engineering services. The contract is the latest in a series of new contracts designed to consolidate ISS operations into a handful of larger contracts. Last week NASA awarded contracts for ISS mission integration and cargo operations.