Ball Aerospace Wins NASA Earth Sensing Contracts
May 05 2008 - 8:07AM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp. has been awarded two NASA contracts that
support the agency's Science Mission Directorate 2007 Instrument
Incubator Program (IIP) in developing Earth science instrument
subsystem technologies. Ball will also participate in a third
contract as co-investigators on a study led by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL). Ball Aerospace technical manager and systems lead
engineer for the CALIPSO mission, Carl Weimer, was awarded a
contract as principal investigator on the Electronically Steerable
Flash Lidar. The contract demonstrates that flash arrays can be
used to profile vegetation canopies from space, designated for the
proposed Deformation, Ecosystem Structure and Dynamics of Ice
Mission. Ball staff consultant, Christian Grund, was awarded a
contract as principal investigator for Development and
Demonstration of an Optical Autocovariance Direct Detection Wind
Lidar (OAWL). Operating from a WB-57 aircraft, the program will
demonstrate OAWL's viability to fulfill the needs of a direct
detection wind mission, currently projected to measure global
tropospheric wind profiles from Low Earth Orbit in the 2015
timeframe. According to NASA and NOAA, tropospheric wind
measurement is critical to improve weather forecasts. On the third
winning effort, Ball Aerospace supported a JPL team led by William
Folkner on the Laser Ranging Frequency Stabilization Subsystems for
the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) - II Mission.
As co-investigators, Ball principal engineers, Michelle Stephens
and James Leitch will build and test the opto-mechanical assembly
and test the laser stabilization subsystem. The NASA IIP provides
instrument and instrument subsystem technology developments to
enable the National Research Council's Earth Science decadal survey
mission. The program focuses on technologies that lead to future
flight instruments that are smaller, less resource-intensive, less
costly, and require less time to build. NASA reviewed 71 proposals
for this technology solicitation before awarding 21 contracts. Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. 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. For more than
50 years, Ball Aerospace has been responsible for numerous
technological and scientific 'firsts' and acts as a technology
innovator for the aerospace market. Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) is
a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products for
beverage, food and household products customers, and of aerospace
and other technologies and services, primarily for the U.S.
government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more than
15,500 people worldwide and reported 2007 sales of $7.4 billion.
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
product 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;
competitive activity; failure to achieve anticipated productivity
improvements or production cost reductions, including our beverage
can end project; 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; changes in senior
management; successful or unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures
or divestitures; integration of recently acquired businesses;
regulatory action or laws including tax, environmental, health and
workplace safety, including in respect of chemicals or substances
used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; 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 Aerospace & Technologies Corp.,
+1-303-533-6059, Web site: http://www.ballaerospace.com/
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