BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Wide-field Infrared
Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft built by Ball Aerospace has
captured an image of Comet Hartley 2, the comet that another of
Ball's spacecraft – the Deep Impact Flyby - is scheduled to image
on November 4.
The Deep Impact mission accomplished its goal five years ago
when the satellite's Impactor separated from the Flyby spacecraft
and collided with deep-space comet Tempel 1, excavating material
from the nucleus of the comet. The encounter occurred nearly
83 million miles from Earth on July 4,
2005. The Deep Impact Flyby spacecraft used its two
instruments to image the impact and with plenty of fuel onboard,
has since been "recycled" to perform two additional missions – the
Deep Impact eXtended Investigation (DIXI), and the Extrasolar
Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh), together known as
the EPOXI mission. The planet-hunting phase ended in
mid-2008, but on November 4, the
Flyby spacecraft is expected to capture imagery and spectra from
Comet Hartley 2.
The WISE spacecraft launched in December
2009 to create a full sky, infrared map, including more than
150,000 asteroids and more than one hundred comets. The image
captured by WISE of Comet Hartley 2 on May
10, 2010, provides the science team with a large-scale
infrared picture that will show how the comet has changed in the
past six months when compared to the image that will be taken on
November 4.
The WISE image of Hartley-2 can be seen online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/multimedia/gallery/pia13438.html
WISE ended its cryogenic portion of the mission in September,
and began a new phase of its survey, called the NEOWISE
Post-Cryogenic Mission, to focus primarily on finding additional
asteroids and comets.
Ball Aerospace’s multi-decade legacy in cryogenically-cooled
infrared systems was continued on WISE, based on other successful
programs including the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, the Cosmic
Background Explorer, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Near
Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer for the Hubble Space
Telescope.
Ball Aerospace designed and built the WISE spacecraft, led all
satellite level testing and is supporting operations under contract
to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). For the Deep
Impact mission, Ball Aerospace teamed with scientists, engineers
and mission designers from the University of
Maryland and JPL to design the two Deep Impact spacecraft
and science 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
www.ballaerospace.com.
Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) is a supplier of high-quality
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 14,000 people worldwide and reported 2009 sales of more than
$7.3 billion including discontinued
operations.
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
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.
SOURCE Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
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