Ball Aerospace Completes Primary Mirror and Detector Array Assembly Milestones for Kepler Mission
September 25 2007 - 12:21PM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp. has successfully completed two significant
milestones for the Kepler Mission: the precision coating process of
Kepler's primary mirror, and the integration of the detector array
assembly. These milestones meet a critical path requirement and
allow the program to begin integration and test on the photometer
telescope and focal plane array assembly. (Photo:
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"These milestones allow the Kepler mission to enter the next phase
of development and demonstrate Ball Aerospace's intent to
successfully move the program forward," said Cary Ludtke, Vice
President and General Manager for Ball's Civil and Operational
Space business unit. The Kepler instrument is a custom-built,
0.95-meter aperture Schmidt telescope, with a 1.4-meter primary
mirror, and an array of 46 charge coupled devices (CCDs) at the
focus. It features a focal plane array of 95 megapixels that will
measure the brightness of 100,000 stars every 30 minutes in a
search for Earth-size planets around stars in our galaxy. Coating
the primary mirror culminates a four-year development program to
design and build a large, light-weight mirror for use in space. The
enhanced, silver coating technology used for the primary mirror was
provided by Surface Optics Corporation and is designed to provide
the NASA mission with the sensitivity needed to detect planets as
they pass in front of stars. With the primary mirror complete,
integration of the telescope using the 0.95 m Schmidt corrector and
composite housing is now underway. The advanced integration and
functional testing of the Ball -- designed and manufactured CCD
Detector Module array and detector electronics were completed at
Ball's Detector Technology Center, opened in 2006. Ball Aerospace
is also building the spacecraft for the Kepler mission, which is
scheduled to launch in February, 2009. 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. Over the past 50
years, Ball Aerospace has been responsible for numerous
technological and scientific 'firsts' and acts as a technology
innovator for the aerospace market. Ball Corporation is a supplier
of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products for beverage,
food and household customers, and of aerospace and other
technologies and services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball
Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more than 15,500 people
worldwide and reported 2006 sales of $6.6 billion. The NASA Ames
Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is the home organization of
the science principal investigator and is responsible for the
ground system development, mission operations and science data
analysis. Kepler mission development is managed by NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 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 consumer and customer demand and
preferences; availability and cost of raw materials, including
recent significant increases in resin, steel, aluminum and energy
costs, and the ability to pass such increases on to customers;
competitive packaging availability, pricing and substitution;
changes in climate and weather; crop yields; industry productive
capacity and competitive activity; failure to achieve anticipated
productivity improvements or production cost reductions, including
those associated with our beverage can end project; the German
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; successful or unsuccessful
acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; integration of
recently acquired businesses; regulatory action or laws including
tax, environmental and workplace safety; 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.
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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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