Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s Space Shuttle Main Engines Deliver Hardware to Support Science Experiments Onboard the International Space Station

hree Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME) today successfully powered the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on Mission STS-129 to deliver experiments, hardware and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). The SSME is the only fully reusable high performance rocket engine rated for human space flight. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

Atlantis launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the 31st flight to the space station for an 11-day mission that will include three spacewalks to install two large cargo platforms called ExPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELC). The ELCs contain spare hardware that will sustain space station operations beyond 2010. The spare hardware includes two gyroscopes, two nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly and spare equipment for the station’s robotic arm.

“The International Space Station is a microcosm of life on Earth, and the scientific experiments that have been conducted aboard the station have been vital to the advancement of human health and safety, as well as the study of human impact on the environment,” said Jim Paulsen, SSME program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. “We’re proud to support NASA and the scientific community as they continue to seek new understanding of matters relevant to life on Earth.”

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, is a preferred provider of high-value propulsion, power, energy and innovative system solutions used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and commercial building industries.