Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.’s Carl Weimer will be awarded NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal during a ceremony May 8, for his work on the Cloud-Aerosol LIDAR and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) mission.
One of NASA’s most prestigious honors, the award is presented to select individuals and groups, both government and non-government, who have made outstanding contributions to NASA. Weimer served as Ball’s technical manager for CALIPSO, leading development of the satellite payload. He continues to support the mission as additional scientific rewards are realized from CALIPSO, including ocean winds and subsurface measurements for plankton, plant growth and turbidity. CALIPSO is a mission dedicated to studying the impact that clouds and aerosols have on the Earth’s climate.
“This recognition is an honor for me, and a testament to the outstanding team efforts that continue to make the CALIPSO mission so successful,” said Weimer. Weimer’s award is the highest honor given by NASA to non-government employees, and is bestowed only when the contribution is so extraordinary that other forms of recognition would be inadequate. The NASA award is presented for unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, aeronautics, space flight, administration, support, or space-related endeavors.
This is the third NASA Distinguished Medal award for Ball employees in the past three years. Paul Lightsey was acknowledged in 2007 for his contributions to the James Webb Space Telescope, and Monte Henderson for the Deep Impact mission in 2006.
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. For more than 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 (NYSE: BLL – News) 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 15,500 people worldwide and reported 2007 sales of $7.4 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, 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; 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; 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.
