December 12, 2008. In an unexpected move the Bush administration has transferred management responsibility for NASA’s Constellation Project to Halliburton. The no-bid contract was announced 10 pm Friday evening. Reportedly, Halliburton will also take over day to day management of NASA activities.

Halliburton will take immediate responsibility for project management of the new manned launch vehicle system and, eventually, lunar missions planned for the end of the next decade.

Major General (ret.) Garman Schlumpet, President of Halliburton Drilling and Space Services, declined to give details of the new arrangement, but did remark that he “looks forward to working with Mr. Cheney again” on the upcoming lunar mission.

Halliburton is expected to subcontract significant portions of project management to Blackwater Space Systems (BSS) based in Terlott, NC. Recently, the privately held BSS has denied having an ongoing development program in play to develop payload delivery systems for orbital and suborbital applications.

However, a recently discovered shipping manifest disclosing large quantities of ammonium perchlorate being shipped into the remote North Carolina headquarters has been reported by the Mount Pilot Recorder. A coalition of adjacent coal mine operators claim they will file an injunction to halt the “private space program” from contaminating their pristine mountain valley.

Reportedly, BSS is offering turnkey underground launch facilities as well as launch facility services from their privately held volcanic island in the Caribbean Mauvaise Odeur Island chain.