ITT Industries, Inc. Deep Space Network (DSN) Operations & Maintenance team successfully supported the Mars Orbit Insertion for one of NASA’s newest exploration missions, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). With approximately 100 employees at three NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) locations in California, the ITT team and JPL planned and executed the DSN support strategy using the DSN 70-meter antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, CA, culminating in the spacecraft’s successful entry into Mars orbit earlier this month.
The MRO carries instruments for studying Mars to identify water-related deposits, radar to probe for buried ice and water, a weather camera to monitor the planet and an infrared sounder to monitor atmospheric temperatures and the movement of water vapor.
“This spacecraft will return more data than all previous Mars missions combined,” said Jim Graf, project manager for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. ITT’s DSN team also supports ongoing deep space missions such as the recent Stardust comet spacecraft’s return to earth and the Cassini probe’s discovery of liquid water on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
“ITT is proud to support the varied missions of NASA’s Deep Space Program, which will help to unlock some of the universe’s deeply held secrets,” said Pete McKinney, president ITT’s Systems Division.
ITT provides, on a worldwide basis, select Government, commercial and international customers with value-added, total systems solutions for turn-key satellite earth terminals, air and missile defense, communications, command and control, range, spacelift and surveillance needs, and equipment and facilities maintenance, which includes service life extension and full logistics life cycle support.
About ITT Industries, Inc.
ITT Industries, Inc. (http://www.itt.com) supplies advanced technology products and services in key markets including: fluid and water management including water treatment; defense communication, opto-electronics, information technology and services; electronic interconnects and switches; and other specialty products. Headquartered in White Plains, NY, the company generated $7.4 billion in 2005 sales. In addition to the New York Stock Exchange, ITT Industries stock is traded on the Pacific, Paris, London and Frankfurt exchanges.
