Ball Aerospace's LIDAR Test to Deliver Light Show in Boulder Skies
December 04 2003 - 3:05PM
PR Newswire (US)
Ball Aerospace's LIDAR Test to Deliver Light Show in Boulder Skies
BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boulder residents
may see a brilliant beam of green light rising to the clouds as
early as Saturday night. It is not a neighbor's Christmas lights
gone awry or an alien landing, it is ground testing of a new space
science instrument that will return data on the effect of aerosols
in the atmosphere. The Cloud-Aerosol LIDAR and Infrared Pathfinder
Spaceborne Observations, or CALIPSO, will undergo ground-based
testing of its powerful laser system at Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. in preparation for its 2005
launch. During this activity, a green laser beam will be visible in
the night sky above Boulder. Depending on weather conditions, the
green light from the beam may be visible as far away as Colorado
Springs and Fort Collins. Ball Aerospace worked with NASA, the
Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense and
other agencies for more than three years to ensure the safety of
this testing procedure. The light from the laser is safe to view
from the ground. Aircraft will be diverted around the area to avoid
the beam. The testing system is also equipped with a radar system
that tracks aircraft and will shut down the system if aircraft are
nearby. CALIPSO is a space mission to improve and expand our
understanding of aerosols, or particles, and clouds in the
processes that govern our climate. CALIPSO data are expected to
improve worldwide climate predictions and allow scientists to
better understand how natural and man-made chemicals and other
particles released in the Earth's atmosphere affect our overall
environment. One of the primary instruments for CALIPSO is the
LIDAR, an acronym for light detection and ranging, describing
systems that use a light beam in place of conventional microwave
beams for atmospheric monitoring, tracking and detection. Once in
orbit the LIDAR will beam a laser into the atmosphere and detect
the reflected light energy from clouds and particles. Ball
Aerospace is responsible for the scientific instrument suite and
the communications equipment for the CALIPSO program. The company
will provide the LIDAR, which will probe the atmosphere with green
and infrared laser light, and a wide-field visible light camera.
The CALIPSO mission is led and managed by NASA's Langley Research
Center and collaborates with the French space agency Centre
National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., Hampton University and the Institut Pierre
Simon Laplace in France. CALIPSO is scheduled for launch in 2004.
Ball Corporation is one of the world's leading suppliers of metal
and plastic packaging to the beverage and food industries. The
company also owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. With the
addition of Ball Packaging Europe, acquired in December 2002, Ball
expects to report 2003 sales of approximately $5 billion, of which
approximately $4.5 billion will come from its two packaging
segments and $500 million from its aerospace and technologies
segment. Forward-Looking Statements The information in this news
release contains "forward-looking" statements. Actual results or
outcomes may differ materially from those expressed or implied. As
time passes, the relevance and accuracy of forward-looking
statements contained in this release may change. The company
currently does not intend to update any particular forward-looking
statement except as it deems necessary at quarterly or annual
release of earnings. Please refer to the Form 10-Q filed by Ball
Corporation on November 10, 2003, for a summary of key risk factors
that could affect actual results or outcomes. Factors that might
affect the packaging segments of the company are: fluctuation in
consumer and customer demand; competitive packaging material
availability, pricing and substitution; the weather; fruit,
vegetable and fishing yields; company and industry productive
capacity and competitive activity; lack of productivity improvement
or production cost reductions; regulatory action or laws, including
the German mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws
and environmental and workplace safety regulations; availability
and cost of raw materials, energy and transportation; the ability
or inability to pass on to customers changes in these costs,
particularly resin, steel and aluminum; pricing and ability or
inability to sell scrap; international business risks (including
foreign exchange rates and tax rates) particularly in the United
States, Europe and in developing countries such as China and
Brazil; and the effect of LIFO accounting on earnings. Factors that
may affect the aerospace segment are: funding, authorization and
availability of government contracts and the nature and
continuation of those contracts; and technical uncertainty
associated with aerospace segment contracts. Factors that could
affect the company as a whole include those listed plus: successful
and unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures and
the integration activities associated therewith including the
integration and operation of the business of Schmalbach-Lubeca AG,
now known as Ball Packaging Europe; the inability to purchase the
company's common stock; insufficient or reduced cash flow;
regulatory action or laws including those related to corporate
governance and financial reporting, regulations and standards;
actual and estimated business consolidation and investment costs
and the net realizable value of assets associated with these
activities; goodwill impairment; changes in generally accepted
accounting principles or their interpretation; litigation;
antitrust, intellectual property, consumer and other issues;
strikes; boycotts; increases in various employee benefits and labor
costs, specifically pension, medical and health care costs incurred
in the countries in which Ball has operations; rates of return
projected and earned on assets of the company's defined benefit
retirement plans; interest rates and level of company debt,
including floating rate debt; terrorist activities, war or
catastrophic events that disrupt or impact production, supply or
pricing of the company's goods and services, including raw
materials and energy costs, or disrupt or impact the credit and
financing of the company's businesses; and U.S. and foreign
economic conditions. DATASOURCE: Ball Aerospace & Technologies
Corp. CONTACT: Emilia Reed, +1-303-939-6551, or after hours,
+1-303-378-7181, or Rachelle Wood, +1-303-939-6606, both of Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Web site:
http://www.ballaerospace.com/
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