BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA and the U.S. Department of the Interior have recognized the Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. imaging instrument on Landsat 8 for improving the ability of scientists, land use managers, fire fighters, and other beneficiaries to better understand the Earth's features, and continuing Landsat's 40-year record of global observations. The two agencies presented the esteemed William T. Pecora Award to the Landsat 8 mission team at the 23rd William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium in Denver on Tuesday.
Ball Aerospace designed and built the Operational Land Imager (OLI) aboard Landsat 8 – an instrument that represents a significant advancement in Landsat sensor technology by employing a more reliable design that improves performance. The critical signal to noise ratio is dramatically improved aboard Landsat 8 due to the 7,000 detectors installed on OLI versus approximately 100 on previous instruments. This innovative design provides better characterization of the land cover, giving Landsat data users much more detail than they have been able to see before. The data is highly calibrated to integrate with historic data records for global change detection.
Ball's Operational Space Vice President and General Manager Cary Ludtke told Forbes magazine in a recent interview that the Landsat science community couldn't be happier with the results they're seeing from the latest Landsat instrument. "Testimonials from the user community reinforce the value of this instrument to both the Landsat legacy and the future of land remote sensing."
The Pecora Awards honor outstanding contributions in the field of remote sensing and its application to understanding Earth. The award was established in 1974 to honor the memory of William T. Pecora, former director of the U.S. Geological Survey and Interior undersecretary. Pecora was a visionary in recognizing the value of taking images of the Earth from space, which led to the establishment of the Landsat satellite program more than 40 years ago.
The Landsat program is a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. For decades, the Landsat mission has gathered multispectral imagery of the Earth from space. These continuous global land surface observations are crucial to detecting the changes over time taking place on the Earth's surface.
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 and international 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 www.ballaerospace.com/.
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; customer and supplier consolidation, power and supply chain influence; 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.