Ball Aerospace Selected to Build Lens Assembly for the LSST Camera

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Will Create First Motion Picture of Our Universe

BOULDER, Colo., June 19, 2014 — (PRNewswire) — Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has been selected by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to build the optics and support structure, designated as the L1-L2 Lens Assembly, for the camera on the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which will sit atop the 8,800 ft. tall Cerro Pachon mountaintop in Chile. 

Ball Logo.

Ball Aerospace is teamed with Arizona Optical Systems (AOS) to build the lens assembly consisting of two large refractive lenses and the precision support structure to mount the lenses. AOS will machine and polish the lenses and perform optical testing.  Ball Aerospace will design and integrate the mechanical assembly, support optical/mechanical integration and conduct testing at AOS along with overall management. Ball previously worked with AOS to build Ball's Universal Collimator Assembly, a large ground-based optical testing facility.

"Ball has significant expertise in designing and fabricating high performance optical systems," said Jim Oschmann, vice president and general manager for Ball's Civil Space and Technology business unit. "In this market we'll leverage our experience with large optics from space-borne telescopes, such as those we built for NASA's Kepler mission and the Operational Land Imager aboard NASA's Landsat-8 mission."

The LSST large aperture, wide-field optical imaging facility will explore dark matter, dark energy, the "transient" optical sky including hazardous asteroids and astronomical events, and the formation and structure of the Milky Way.  Every three nights, the LSST will take a full image of the night sky capturing billions of objects in six colors to create a Hollywood-like motion picture of the universe.  The observatory is expected to operate continuously over a 10-year period.

"We look forward to working with AOS for their fabrication and optical testing expertise to provide a high quality, affordable solution to our customer," added Oschmann.

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. For more information, visit http://www.ballaerospace.com/.

About LSST:
The effort to build the LSST is a partnership between public and private organizations. Financial support for LSST Design and Development comes from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation, a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation formed in 2003, with headquarters in Tucson, AZ. Contributions from private foundation gifts, grants to universities, and in-kind support from laboratories and other LSST Member Institutions were key to early construction and critical developments. The LSST Project Office for central management was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.  The Department of Energy funded effort is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is responsible for optical elements of the LSST Camera.  Learn more at www.lsst.org.

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2013 sales of $8.5 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates" and similar expressions 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 in our Form 10-K, which are available on our website and at www.sec.gov. Factors that might affect: a) our packaging segments include product demand fluctuations; availability/cost of raw materials; competitive packaging, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; crop yields; competitive activity; failure to achieve productivity improvements or cost reductions; mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; political instability and sanctions; and changes in foreign exchange or tax rates; b) our aerospace segment include funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts; c) the company as a whole include those listed plus: changes in senior management; successful or unsuccessful acquisitions and divestitures; regulatory action or issues including tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA and other actions or public concerns affecting products filled in our containers, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; technological developments and innovations; litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of return on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; uncertainties surrounding the U.S. government budget, sequestration and debt limit; reduced cash flow; ability to achieve cost-out initiatives; interest rates affecting our debt.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130108/LA39163LOGO

SOURCE Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

Contact:
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Roz Brown, 303-533-6059
Email Contact
Mary Engola, 703-284-5417
Email Contact
Web: http://www.ballaerospace.com




© 2024 Internet Business Systems, Inc.
670 Aberdeen Way, Milpitas, CA 95035
+1 (408) 882-6554 — Contact Us
ShareCG™ is a trademark of Internet Business Systems, Inc.

Report a Bug Report Abuse Make a Suggestion About Privacy Policy Contact Us User Agreement Advertise