THEMIS Program Selected by NASA Under Contract To University of California, Berkley

Swales Aerospace has been
selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to build five
satellites in support of its next Medium-Class Explorer Mission. Named THEMIS
— for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms —
the 2007 mission is expected to provide answers to critical questions about
the magnetosphere area and related space weather.

The University of California, Berkeley (UCB), will lead THEMIS at a total
mission cost to NASA of $173 million.

“This is a major strategic win for Swales Aerospace” said Tom Wilson,
Chief Executive Officer. “We’ve been working with the UCB for more than four
years in crafting the THEMIS program and now we stand on the threshold of
answers to some key scientific questions.”

As prime contractor for the satellites and satellite dispensers, Swales
Aerospace will also perform mission integration, lead satellite launch
operations and satellite checkout. THEMIS design activity is scheduled to
begin next month with a Preliminary Design Review tentatively scheduled for
August of this year.

THEMIS consists of five small satellites carrying identical suites of
electric, magnetic, and particle detectors which will be used to determine the
cause of global reconfigurations of the earth’s magnetosphere, a region of the
upper atmosphere that extends for thousands of miles. Every four days the
five satellites will be lined up along the Earth’s magnetic trail allowing
them to track disturbances. This data will be combined with observations of
the aurora-a luminous phenomenon of streamers or arches of lights in the upper
atmosphere-with other data collected by a network of observatories across the
Arctic Circle.

“Basically, we hope to solve the mystery surrounding the transport and
explosive release of solar wind energy within the earth’s space environment,”
said Michael J. Cully, director of civil and commercial programs for Swales.
“In addition, we believe THEMIS will also be able to answers some critical
questions about radiation belt physics as that science relates to solar
winds.”

Each of the five THEMIS satellites will incorporate flight-proven
instruments and subsystems designed to lower cost and increase systems
reliability. Launch of the THEMIS mission is projected on aboard a Delta II
rocket in the year 2007.

“The Explorer program allows the science community to identify the most
compelling science questions and then design the most effective mission to
answer those questions,” said Edward Weiler, Associate NASA Administrator for
Space Science. “The THEMIS mission we’ve selected will directly address the
science goals of the NASA strategic plan within a focused, moderate sized
project.”

THEMIS is a complementary program to NASA’s Magnetosphere Multistage
program and considered a technology pathfinder for future Solar Terrestrial
Probe missions, a Sun Earth Connection theme of NASA’s Office of Space Science
and managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

An employee-owned business, Swales Aerospace provides state-of-the-art
engineering solutions and spacecraft, as well as a broad range of structural
and thermal management systems for the global satellite industry.

The company is headquartered in Beltsville, Md., posted annual revenues of
$157 million during 2002 and employs more than 900 aerospace professionals in
offices in Maryland, Virginia, California, Florida and Texas. Additional
information about the company is available at www.swales.com.