NASA Selects Ball Aerospace to Build Instrument for Climate and Weather Mission
March 18 2005 - 10:46AM
PR Newswire (US)
NASA Selects Ball Aerospace to Build Instrument for Climate and
Weather Mission BOULDER, Colo., March 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has been selected by NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to build the Global
Precipitation Measurement-Microwave Imager (GMI) in support of the
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. Managed by NASA,
GPM is a joint effort with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
(JAXA) and other international partners to build a constellation of
spacecraft to improve climate and weather predictions through more
accurate and frequent precipitation measurements. According to Ball
Aerospace President and CEO Dave Taylor, "This is a strategic win
for the company, since GMI builds on our heritage of successful
microwave sensors, including the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission,
Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR-C), Geosat Follow On (GFO) and the
Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite. Our robust microwave
technology developments contribute to a vast data and knowledge
stream for environmental missions." GMI will be integrated onto the
GPM core spacecraft together with JAXA's Dual-frequency
Precipitation Radar. When operational, they will make radiometric
and radar measurements of precipitation. "The award of GMI
positions Ball Aerospace as the critical U.S. microwave instrument
supplier for GPM. Being part of GPM, a prototype for the emerging
Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), is very
exciting," says Bill Townsend, vice president and general manager
of Ball Aerospace's civil space system. As envisioned, GPM will
consist of a core spacecraft to measure precipitation and to
provide a calibration standard for an international constellation
of spacecraft. When fully deployed, the constellation will provide
comprehensive data to produce and distribute global rain maps and
climate research products. Ball Aerospace is also bidding on the
satellite bus for this mission and has been working on a first
phase study to develop the spacecraft design. Final selection by
NASA is expected next year. Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) is a
supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products to
the beverage and food industries. The company also owns Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which develops sensors,
spacecraft, systems and components for government and commercial
markets. Ball employs more than 13,200 people worldwide and
reported 2004 sales of $5.4 billion. The company is celebrating its
125th year in 2005. Forward-Looking Statements The information in
this news release contains "forward-looking" statements and other
statements concerning future events and financial performance.
Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," and variations
of same and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject
to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied. The company
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are
summarized in the company's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, especially in Exhibit 99.2 in the most recent
Form 10-K. These filings are available at our Web site and at
http://www.sec.gov/. Factors that might affect our packaging
segments include fluctuation in consumer and customer demand;
availability and cost of raw materials, particularly the recent
significant increases in resin, steel, aluminum and energy costs,
and the ability to pass such increases on to customers; competitive
packaging availability, pricing and substitution; changes in
climate and weather; fruit, vegetable and fishing yields; industry
productive capacity and competitive activity; lack of productivity
improvement or production cost reductions; the German mandatory
deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; changes in major
customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or
supplier; international business risks, including foreign exchange
rates, tax rates and activities of foreign subsidiaries; and the
effect of LIFO accounting on earnings. Factors that might affect
aerospace segment include: funding, authorization and availability
of government contracts and the nature and continuation of those
contracts; and technical uncertainty associated with segment
contracts. Factors that could affect the company as a whole include
those listed plus: acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures;
regulatory action or laws including environmental and workplace
safety; governmental investigations; goodwill impairment; antitrust
and other litigation; strikes; boycotts; increases in employee
benefits and labor costs; rates of return projected and earned on
assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; reduced
cash flow; interest rates affecting our debt; and changes to
unaudited results due to statutory audits or management's
evaluation of the company's internal control over financial
reporting. DATASOURCE: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
CONTACT: David Beachley of Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.,
+1-303-533-5089, Web site: http://www.ballaerospace.com/
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