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Aerojet to Provide Propulsion for NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission

Written by thomas · Filed Under Aeronautics News 

October 22, 2008

thomas

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Aerojet, a
GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, announced today that it has been selected by
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) to provide
propulsion systems for NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission.
The work will be conducted at Aerojet’s Redmond, Wash. facility.

The objective of the RBSP mission is to understand the fundamental
physics underlying the source, loss and transport processes that govern the
radiation belts — the two regions encircling the Earth, where high energy
particles are trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field. Observations from two
spacecraft will be used to develop empirical and physics-based models for
the radiation belts. The empirical models will be used to design improved
radiation-hardened spacecraft, while the physics-based models will be used
by forecasters to predict geomagnetic storms and alert both astronauts and
spacecraft operators to potential hazards. RBSP is part of NASA’s Living
With a Star Program. The spacecraft are scheduled to launch in 2011.

For the mission, Aerojet will provide two monopropellant hydrazine
propulsion systems, one for each spacecraft. The two spacecraft must make
identical measurements in order to observe changes in the radiation belts
through both space and time. Each satellite will carry five science
investigations to observe the charged particles that constitute Earth’s
radiation belts over the full energy range from 1 eV to more than 10 MeV
(including composition); the plasma waves which energize them; the electric
fields that transport them and the magnetic fields that guide their motion.

These particular propulsion systems include design, analysis,
manufacture and test of fully integrated systems including eight thrusters,
three propellant tanks, feed system components, thermal management and
telemetry. To date, Aerojet has delivered more than 220 liquid propulsion
systems, including several for JHU/APL. Operational JHU/APL satellites with
Aerojet propulsion systems include Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE),
Mercury MESSENGER, Pluto New Horizons and the twin STEREO spacecraft. The
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission — the first spacecraft to
successfully land on an asteroid — also carried an Aerojet propulsion
system.

“Aerojet is very pleased with this award,” said Dr. Scott Miller,
director of the Aerojet Systems and Technology Development Department. “We
look forward to working with JHU/APL and NASA on this important scientific
mission.”

Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally
serving the missile and space propulsion, defense and armaments markets.
GenCorp is a leading technology-based manufacturer of aerospace and defense
products and systems with a real estate segment that includes activities
related to the entitlement, sale, and leasing of the company’s excess real
estate assets. Additional information about Aerojet and GenCorp can be
obtained by visiting the companies’ Web sites at http://www.Aerojet.com and
http://www.GenCorp.com.

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