Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Helps Boost Satellite Designed to Measure Salt Concentrations in World Oceans

CANOGA PARK, Calif., June 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne today demonstrated its continued support of NASA and the scientific community by successfully boosting an international spacecraft designed to measure the concentration of salt on ocean surfaces.  The mission launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket with a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A engine.  Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company.

"The RS-27A performed flawlessly, boosting the launch vehicle with the reliability and performance that it's known for," said Elizabeth Jones, RS-27A program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.  "We're equally proud to know the RS-27A engine is playing a vital role in helping scientists better understand our planet and how ocean salt affects weather conditions worldwide, and we look forward to continuing to support NASA and our international partners in future endeavors."

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission is a collaborative effort between NASA and Argentina's space agency, Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy.  The Argentine-built SAC-D spacecraft will carry a suite of instruments on the three-year mission in space. Aquarius, the main instrument on the mission, is designed to map salt concentration on the ocean surface – a key indicator of ocean circulation and its role in climate change.  Other equipment onboard the spacecraft will monitor fires, volcanic eruptions, and surface temperatures of the land and sea.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, 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 Rocketdyne is headquartered in Canoga Park, Calif., and has facilities in Huntsville, Ala.; Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Stennis Space Center, Miss; and Carlstadt, N.J.   For more information about Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, go to www.prattwhitneyrocketdyne.com.    

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.

SOURCE Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne

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