Ball Aerospace Further Advances Manufacturing on James Webb Space Telescope
March 21 2007 - 11:25AM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., March 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp. and its subcontractors have advanced
development on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) by delivering
the telescope's secondary mirror segment for grinding and
polishing. The beryllium secondary mirror segment will collect
light from the telescope's 6.5-meter primary mirror. It was
delivered to Ball Aerospace subcontractor L-3 Communications
SSG-Tinsley, from subcontractor, Axsys Technologies, Inc. This
follows the February delivery to Axsys of the final segment of
JWST's primary mirror, one of 18-segments that will also undergo
grinding and polishing. Assembly of the telescope's structural
components by Ball Aerospace will follow grinding and polishing of
the optical surface. "Ball Aerospace and its subcontractors
continue to meet the intricate, yet rigorous requirements
associated with JWST's optical design," said David L. Taylor,
president and chief executive officer of Ball Aerospace. "Our
company's long involvement in building instruments for space
telescopes contributes to the program's consistent on-schedule
progress." The circular-shaped secondary mirror segment is 0.74
meters in size, and weighs approximately 8.5 kilograms or only 19
pounds after light-weighting. Early in JWST's design, the metal
beryllium was chosen to achieve JWST's light weight, as it is also
good at holding its shape across a range of temperatures, and has a
successful track record of performing on space telescopes at
cryogenic temperatures, needed for JWST's infrared observations.
Ball Aerospace is the principal optical subcontractor for the JWST
program, led by prime contractor Northrop Grumman Space Technology,
under a contract from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, in
Greenbelt, MD. A tertiary mirror, plus flight spares, will be
delivered to Ball Aerospace from its mirror manufacturing team that
includes Brush Wellman, Axsys Technologies and L-3 Communications.
As each mirror is delivered to Ball Aerospace over the next four
years, it will be mounted onto a lightweight, actuated strong- back
assembly and undergo functional and environmental testing. JWST is
designed primarily to detect light from the first stars and
galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang
to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Launch is scheduled for 2013. Ball
Aerospace supports critical missions of important national agencies
such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA and other U.S.
government and commercial entities. The company develops and
manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors,
components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for
strategic, tactical and scientific applications. Over the past 50
years, Ball Aerospace has been responsible for numerous
technological and scientific "firsts" and now acts as a technology
innovator for the aerospace market. Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) is
a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products and
owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Ball reported 2006
sales of $6.6 billion and employs 15,500 people. Forward-Looking
Statements This release contains "forward-looking" statements
concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as
"expects," "anticipates," "estimates" and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such 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 filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99.2 in our Form 10-K, which
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 and preferences; availability and cost
of raw materials, including 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; crop
yields; industry productive capacity and competitive activity;
failure to achieve anticipated productivity improvements or
production cost reductions, including those associated with our
beverage can end project; the German mandatory deposit or other
restrictive packaging laws; changes in major customer or supplier
contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; and changes in
foreign exchange rates, tax rates and activities of foreign
subsidiaries. Factors that might affect our aerospace segment
include: funding, authorization, availability and returns of
government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and
technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts. Factors that
might affect the company as a whole include those listed plus:
accounting changes; successful or unsuccessful acquisitions, joint
ventures or divestitures; integration of recently acquired
businesses; regulatory action or laws including tax, environmental
and workplace safety; governmental investigations; technological
developments and innovations; goodwill impairment; antitrust,
patent and other litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of
return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined
benefit retirement plans; pension changes; reduced cash flow;
interest rates affecting our debt; and changes to unaudited results
due to statutory audits or other effects. DATASOURCE: Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. CONTACT: Roz Brown of Ball
Corporation, +1-303-939-6146, or +1-303-533-6059,
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