Ball Aerospace Completes Environmental Testing for Kepler Mission
December 10 2008 - 8:07AM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp. has successfully completed a series of
rigorous environmental and operational tests for NASA's Kepler
mission to verify seamless operation of the system level hardware
and software. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081210/LA51234) The final
testing included a formal simulation test, conducted by Ball and
the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space
Physics (LASP), to demonstrate readiness for launch and early
on-orbit operations including spacecraft attitude determination and
control and initial checkout of the photometer. Operation of the
spacecraft after launch will be performed by LASP at C.U. Boulder,
with Ball providing system engineering and mission planning. Ball
Aerospace is the prime contractor for NASA's Kepler mission,
building the photometer and spacecraft, as well as managing system
integration and spacecraft testing. For Kepler, Ball employed its
successes from pervious NASA missions including the Hubble and
Spitzer Space Telescopes, and Deep Impact. "Ball Aerospace
leveraged past performance achievements to ensure a successful
outcome for the Kepler mission," said David L. Taylor, president
and CEO of Ball Aerospace. "NASA's first search for extrasolar
planets promises to be an innovative mission that will make us all
proud of our involvement." The Kepler planet-hunting mission will
search for Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of solar-like
stars to provide valuable insight about Earth's origin while also
acting as a trailblazer for future searches for terrestrial
planets. The Kepler mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and NASA's Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, Calif. The Kepler spacecraft will undergo pre-ship
review in December prior to being shipped to Cape Canaveral for an
anticipated March launch. More information about the Kepler mission
is available at http://kepler.nasa.gov/. More information about
extrasolar planets and NASA's planet finding program is at
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/. Kepler is a NASA Discovery
mission. In addition to being the home organization of the science
principal investigator, NASA Ames Research Center is responsible
for the ground system development, mission operations and science
data analysis. Kepler mission development is managed by JPL. Ball
Aerospace is responsible for developing the Kepler flight system
and supporting mission operations. 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. Since 1956, Ball
Aerospace has been responsible for numerous technological and
scientific 'firsts' and is a technology innovator in aerospace.
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 15,000 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; the
current global credit squeeze and its effects on liquidity, credit
risk, asset values and the economy; 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.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081210/LA51234
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. CONTACT: Roz Brown of Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., +1-303-533-6059, Web Site:
http://kepler.nasa.gov/
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