Ball Aerospace-Built Kepler Spacecraft Launches From Cape Canaveral
March 07 2009 - 12:46AM
PR Newswire (US)
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., March 6
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Ball Aerospace-built Kepler
spacecraft carrying the largest camera ever sent by NASA beyond
Earth's orbit, successfully launched aboard a Delta II rocket from
Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 10:49 pm EST, on Friday, March 6, 2009.
Ball Aerospace designed and built Kepler's photometer and
spacecraft, employing expertise from its previous NASA missions
including instruments for the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes,
and the Deep Impact mission. Kepler is the first NASA mission
capable of finding Earth-size planets in the habitable zone. The
Kepler photometer has a wide field of view 0.95-meter aperture,
Schmidt telescope, with a 1.4-meter primary mirror. The integration
and test of the Kepler photometer, utilized Ball Aerospace's new
1.5-meter optical test capability for the first time. The
photometer features a focal plane array of 42 charge-coupled
devices (CCDs) at the center, with more than 95 million pixels.
Kepler's CCD array is the most complex assembly ever undertaken by
Ball Aerospace. "The pioneering Kepler mission advanced Ball's
large optics and focal plane technologies in support of NASA's
space science missions," said David L. Taylor, president and CEO of
Ball Aerospace. "The extraordinary interest in extrasolar planets
will make this the 'mission to watch' for several years." 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 pathfinder mission for
future missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled
to launch in 2013. Ball Aerospace is the principal subcontractor
for the Webb telescope, contributing advanced optical technology
and the lightweight mirror system. 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/. NASA's Ames
Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is home to Kepler's science
principal investigator, and is also responsible for the ground
system development, mission operations and science data analysis.
Kepler mission development is managed by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. Operation of the spacecraft after launch will be
performed by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at
the University of Colorado, Boulder, with Ball providing system
engineering and mission planning. 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 14,500 people worldwide and
reported 2008 sales of more than $7.5 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; 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. DATASOURCE: Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. CONTACT: Roz Brown of Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp., +1-303-533-6059, Web Site:
http://www.ballaerospace.com/
Copyright
Ball (NYSE:BLL)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Ball (NYSE:BLL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024