Boulder-built and Operated QuikSCAT Provides 10 Years of Data on Earth's Climate
16 Giugno 2009 - 12:03PM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- This month marks
a decade of success for NASA's QuikSCAT mission, one that continues
to provide a wealth of information about Earth's climate since its
launch June 19, 1999. Although QuikSCAT's mission life was designed
for two years, the spacecraft continues to operate into its tenth
year and its groundbreaking research is being used to help predict
severe weather patterns, create wave-prediction models and to
observe global climate change. Observations taken by QuikSCAT
revealed the most extensive ice melting in the Arctic and Antarctic
regions since scientists began taking measurements from space 30
years ago. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090616/LA33070) QuikSCAT,
short for Quick Scatterometer, was built in a record-breaking 12
months at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder,
Colo., for the Goddard Space Flight Center. The mission is managed
by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., with a team
of professionals and undergraduate students at the University of
Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP),
Boulder, Colo., performing mission operations. "QuikSCAT has
clearly demonstrated its reliability to both government and
commercial customers, providing quality forecasting data to
scientists and meteorologists - the type of data that could easily
be extended with a new scatterometer mission," said David L.
Taylor, president and CEO of Ball Aerospace. QuikSCAT orbits the
Earth 14 times per day, providing coverage of 90 percent of the
planet's surface. The instruments aboard the satellite measure
sea-surface winds measuring the brightness of radar returns over
the ocean. Over the course of its mission, QuikSCAT has become
critical in detecting hurricanes and extra-tropical cyclones;
improving ocean forecasts and weather warnings; and identifying
changes in polar ice. At LASP, students have played a vital role in
the mission operations of the QuikSCAT satellite. LASP is a rare
institution in that it offers this type of hands-on, mission
training for undergraduate students. Twenty undergraduate students
work with mission operations professionals at LASP's facilities in
Boulder, Colo., controlling five different spacecraft, including
the recently launched Kepler mission. "QuikSCAT continues LASP's
long and successful history of having professionals working
side-by-side with students to operate spacecraft for NASA and Ball
Aerospace," said Darren Osborne, LASP's QuikSCAT flight director.
"We're extremely proud to be part of the QuikSCAT team." The
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of
Colorado at Boulder, which began as the Upper Air Laboratory in
1948, is dedicated to making discoveries through the research and
technology efforts of its atmospheric, space physics, solar,
planetary, engineering and mission operations divisions. Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions for
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. Since 1956, Ball
Aerospace has been responsible for numerous technological and
scientific 'firsts' and is a technology innovator in aerospace.
Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) is a supplier of high-quality metal and
plastic packaging products 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 2008 sales of approximately $7.6 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, including our beverage can end project; 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; changes in senior management; the
current global credit squeeze 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 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/20090616/LA33070
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. CONTACT: Roz Brown of Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., +1-303-533-6059, ; or Emilia Reed of University
of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics,
+1-303-735-4336, Web Site: http://www.ballaerospace.com/
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