BOULDER, Colo., Feb. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Two cloud cameras
built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. will fly aboard
NASA's Glory climate-monitoring mission scheduled to launch
Wednesday, Feb. 23, from Vandenberg
Air Force Base in California.
Ball Aerospace designed and built the semi-custom Glory cloud
cameras for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center using standard
CT-633 star tracker electronics and custom optics and software. The
cloud cameras are mounted separately but will operate in
conjunction with the Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor, which provides
data on the properties of black carbon and other types of aerosols
as well as clouds in the Earth's atmosphere.
The Glory cameras extend technologies first developed by Ball
for the successful cloud camera flying onboard the Cloud-Aerosol
LIDAR and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO)
mission launched in 2006. Once on orbit, Glory will join CALIPSO as
part of NASA's A-train satellite formation of Earth-observation
satellites.
The three-year Glory mission will contribute to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Program by studying the
causes and consequences of global environmental changes as well as
helping to determine how to predict these changes.
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 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 2010 sales of more than $7.6 billion. For the latest Ball news and for
other company information, please visit http://www.ball.com.
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 on our website 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; integration of
recently acquired businesses; regulatory action or laws including
tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA
and other actions affecting products filled in our containers, 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.