Two Ball Aerospace Instruments Launch Aboard Shuttle Atlantis for Historic Hubble Mission
May 11 2009 - 3:02PM
PR Newswire (US)
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., May 11
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The space shuttle Atlantis lifted off
Monday on a mission to the Hubble Space Telescope where astronauts
are scheduled to install two instruments built by Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp. and restore two previously installed Ball
instruments to peak performance. The successful launch of NASA's
STS-125 mission occurred at 2:01:56 p.m. EDT, on May 11, 2009.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090511/LA14632)
During the eleven-day mission, astronauts will install the Ball
Aerospace-built Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and the Wide
Field Camera 3 (WFC3); and upgrade two critical Ball instruments:
the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), installed in 1997;
and the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), installed during the
2002 servicing mission. The celebrated mission will extend the
operating life of the telescope and greatly enhance its scientific
capability. "Ball Aerospace is extremely proud to be part of NASA's
historic return to the Hubble Space Telescope," said David L.
Taylor, president and CEO of Ball Aerospace & Technologies
Corp. "Hubble has provided us with the most amazing images in the
universe and will expand those offerings following installation of
the two new instruments provided by Ball Aerospace." Ball has made
significant contributions to the Hubble program for more than 30
years and became a key player after our engineers designed and
built the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement that
compensated for the original primary mirror flaw and enabled
optimum performance of several science instruments. Ball also built
and assembled more than a thousand new tool parts that comprise the
Crew Aids and Tools (CAT), to be used by STS-125 astronauts when
they arrive at Hubble to repair STIS and ACS. "The NASA contractor
teams including the Ball team have built great tools in a very
short time frame to allow us to do this task," said astronaut John
Grunsfeld when the STS-125 crew visited Ball Aerospace in November
2008. Mission specialist Grunsfeld has likened the repair of STIS
and ACS to "brain surgery" in space, because neither instrument was
designed to be repaired on orbit. Following NASA's servicing
mission, all five major instruments in operation on the orbiting
observatory will have been built by Ball. The COS and WFC3
instruments contain advanced technology sensors, which far surpass
what has been available on Hubble to-date, and improvement factors
of 10X-70X are expected in certain key performance areas. COS will
be 30 times more sensitive in the far-ultraviolet than earlier
Hubble ultraviolet spectrographs, and will be able to observe
distant quasars too faint for detection by previous spectrographs.
WFC3 will be sensitive to wavelengths from the near-ultraviolet to
the near-infrared spectrum. This broad range expands our ability to
make new discoveries and to understand existing data about the
universe and galaxies. Using a 4,000 x 4,000 pixel charged couple
device detector with a large field of view, WFC3 provides images
with less "background noise" than previous instruments. In addition
to WFC3, COS, ACS and STIS, Hubble instruments built by Ball
aerospace include: the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph, one of
the original science instruments launched aboard HST; the
Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement, installed in
1993; and the Near-infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer,
installed in 1997. NASA's successor to Hubble, the James Webb Space
Telescope, is scheduled to join Hubble on orbit in 2013. Ball is
the principal subcontractor for the Webb, providing the advanced
optical technology and lightweight mirror system. 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 14,000 people worldwide and
reported 2008 sales of approximately $7.6 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.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090511/LA14632
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ 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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