Aerojet Engines Steer Latest Red Planet Mission

Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. company, will cap three decades of providing propulsion for missions to Mars when the Atlas V launches the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Aerojet has provided propulsion for every United States Mars mission dating back to the Viking Landers in the 1970s, and will continue to support exploration of the planet with upcoming missions.

• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) will be launched by a Lockheed Martin Atlas V launch vehicle with Aerojet-provided monopropellant engines for the upper stage. Under a contract with Lockheed Martin, which designed and built the MRO spacecraft as well as the Atlas V, Aerojet also provided engines for the spacecraft's seven-month cruise to Mars, Mars Orbit Insertion and in-orbit maintenance during its multi-year mission at Mars. MRO is a mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the NASA Science Mission Directorate.
• MRO will examine the red planet in unprecedented detail from low orbit and will augment the Mars Global Surveyor, which is still in operations six years past its planned primary mission. Both the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey spacecrafts use Aerojet thrusters to maintain their orbits.
• MRO will provide essential details for the Mars Phoenix lander, planned for launch in 2007. Phoenix will carry both cruise and lander engines built by Aerojet.
• Aerojet provided cruise-stage spacecraft propulsion that delivered the highly successful Mars Exploration Rovers "Spirit" and "Opportunity." The rovers continue to operate more than 18 months after landing.
• Aerojet is testing a Viking Lander engine and making improvements to meet the requirements of the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Technology already in development for the lander engine will allow for throttling from 10-100 percent thrust. Engine throttling is important to meet the long-range, long-duration requirements of this science mission planned for a 2009 launch.

"Aerojet anticipates another resounding success with MRO after it launches in early August," said Aerojet executive vice president Scott Neish. "Thirty years of dedicated work to create advanced technologies for man's exploration of space has only whetted our thirst for more knowledge and even greater understanding of our place in this universe. Aerojet looks forward to partnering with NASA on its science missions for many years to come." Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the missile and space propulsion, and defense and armaments markets. GenCorp is a leading technology-based manufacturer of aerospace and defense products and systems with a real estate business segment that includes activities related to the development, sale and leasing of the Company's real estate assets.

http://www.Aerojet.com and http://www.GenCorp.com