Ball Aerospace Begins Integration of VIIRS for NPOESS Preparatory Satellite
January 29 2010 - 2:53PM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp. has begun integration of the Visible
Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) for the National
Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)
Preparatory Project (NPP). (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100129/LA46368) NPOESS, a
joint program between NASA and the Integrated Program Office, is
the nation's next generation low-Earth orbiting operational weather
and climate monitoring system. The VIIRS sensor is the fourth of
five weather instruments to be integrated onto the Ball
Aerospace-designed and built NPP spacecraft bus. Instruments
already integrated include the Ball-built Ozone Mapping and
Profiler Suite; the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder; and the
Cloud and the Earth's Radiant Energy System. The fifth instrument,
the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) is scheduled to arrive at
Ball Aerospace for integration later this year. "Northrop Grumman
and the IPO, and our customer, Goddard Space Flight Center, have
worked long and hard to get to this point," said Cary Ludtke, vice
president and general manager for Ball's Civil and Operational
Space business unit. "Ball Aerospace looks forward to the critical
integration of VIIRS, and CrIS later this year, then qualifying the
entire observatory for launch. The anticipated delivery and
integration of the final NPP flight instruments at Ball will result
in several major program milestones by the end of 2010." VIIRS will
collect visible and infrared imagery and radiometric data about the
atmosphere, clouds, earth's radiation, land/water surfaces, sea
surface temperature, ocean color and other types of environmental
data. Ball expects to complete integration of the VIIRS instrument
by mid-February. NASA and the NPOESS IPO have developed NPP as the
mission precursor to the NPOESS mission, and to provide data
continuity between the Earth Observing System Terra and Aqua
missions. NPP will also provide risk reduction for the NPOESS
program through early flight validation of critical NPOESS sensors.
Under contract to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Ball
Aerospace employed a modified Ball Commercial Platform 2000 to
accommodate NPP's five instruments. 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
information visit http://www.ballaerospace.com/. Ball Corporation
(NYSE:BLL) is a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic
packaging 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 2009 sales of
approximately $7.3 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; 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 or tax
rates. 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 recession
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 climate change, or
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/20100129/LA46368
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Ball Aerospace CONTACT: Roz
Brown of Ball Aerospace, +1-303-533-6059,
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