Honeywell Celebrates 26 Years of Flight Support for Landsat-5 Satellite

Original Three-Year Mission Extended To 26 Years; Providing Valuable Data on Earth's Land Surface

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Apr 12, 2010, 09:00 ET

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NATIONAL SPACE SYMPOSIUM -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that its flight operations support team for Landsat-5 has completed the mission's 26th year in orbit, well beyond the planned three-year mission-life, delivering data for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

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NASA launched Landsat-5 in March 1984, scheduled for retrieval by the space shuttle three years later. The retrieval did not occur and 26 years later, Landsat-5 is still flying, capturing images of the Earth's global landmass, coastal boundaries, and coral reefs. The satellite has provided more than 700,000 images of the Earth's land surface for scientists.

"The Honeywell flight engineers make heroic efforts on a regular basis to keep the mission alive," said Tegan Collier, Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc. (HTSI), manager of Landsat Flight Operations. "The satellite was well-built, but it's also been well-flown. Honeywell has shown the expertise required to extract mission value out of the spacecraft well beyond expectations."

Honeywell provides flight operations support for Landsat-5 for the USGS from the control center in HTSI's headquarters in Columbia, Md., and a back-up operations center at the nearby Goddard Space Flight Center.

Honeywell is working with the USGS to extend the Landsat-5 mission to 2013.

Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Honeywell's aerospace business is a leading global provider of integrated avionics, engines, systems and service solutions for aircraft manufacturers, airlines, business and general aviation, military, space and airport operations.

Honeywell International (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell's shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com.

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