Key AXAF Mirror Assembly Delivered to TRW; Kodak Set to Begin Integrating Satellite's X-ray Telescope.

REDONDO BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 1997--NASA's Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) program has reached a major milestone with the delivery of the space observatory's central optical component to TRW (NYSE: TRW), the AXAF prime contractor.

The AXAF High Resolution Mirror Assembly (HRMA), the optical heart of NASA's third Great Observatory, was delivered on May 6 to TRW's Space Park satellite integration facilities in Redondo Beach. Its arrival here will allow TRW and Eastman Kodak Co., a member of TRW's AXAF contractor team, to begin final assembly of the satellite's X-ray telescope, one of AXAF's three major subsystems. Integration and testing of the 10-meter focal length telescope will be done at Space Park.

Since December 1996, the HRMA has been undergoing rigorous X-ray testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center X-ray Calibration Facility, Huntsville, Ala. AXAF is scheduled to be launched from the Space Shuttle in August 1998.

"We are delighted with the timely completion of the HRMA's X-ray testing and its delivery to TRW," said Ed Wheeler, TRW's AXAF program manager. "Its arrival will allow the AXAF team to begin integrating the mirror assembly with the other optical structures, electronics, and mechanical drive mechanisms that comprise the AXAF telescope."

According to Wheeler, integration of the telescope is expected to be completed this September. At that time, it will be mated with the AXAF spacecraft bus, which TRW is currently integrating and testing. Delivery of the AXAF Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM), the last of the three major ASAF subsystems, is also expected in September from Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.

TRW leads a team of contractors, including Kodak and Ball Aerospace, that is currently building AXAF for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Kodak, which assembled and tested the HRMA, is responsible for integrating the AXAF telescope. The telescope's mirrors were built by Hughes Danbury Optical Systems, Danbury, Conn., and coated by Optical Coating Laboratory Inc., Santa Rosa, Calif.

The telescope includes two transmission gratings developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Space Research Organization of the Netherlands. Ball Aerospace will integrate the satellite's science instrument module with instruments provided by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), Penn State University and MIT. Testing of the instruments is continuing at NASA Marshall.

The AXAF HRMA uses four "nested" pairs of precisely aligned parabolic and hyperbolic mirrors to focus X-rays from celestial sources onto imaging instruments at the opposite end of the AXAF telescope. It can resolve objects to within an accuracy of 0.5 arc second. That's equivalent to being able to read the text of a newspaper from half a mile away. AXAF will be able to detect X-ray sources 100 times fainter and produce images 10 times sharper than any planned or previously flown X-ray mission.

From its highly elliptical Earth orbit, AXAF will observe and study X-rays, an invisible form of energy that comes from the deepest reaches of the universe. X-rays must be studied from space since they are absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere. Data gathered by the satellite will give scientists insight into astronomical mysteries, such as the existence of black holes or the size of the universe. AXAF's findings will also help scientists "bridge the gap" between the observations of the Hubble Space Telescope, which operates in the visible spectrum, and the TRW-built Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, which observes cosmic events in the high-energy gamma ray spectrum.

Since 1958, TRW has been a partner with NASA in developing scientific, communications and environmental satellite systems. Through such orbiting observatories as the High Energy Astronomy Observatories, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer-Earth Probe, TRW has helped NASA scientists unlock mysteries about the Earth and the universe. The company is currently studying for NASA, the architectures and technologies needed to implement several of the agency's future space astronomy missions, including the Next Generation Space Telescope and the Space Interferometry Mission.

TRW, based in Cleveland, provides advanced technology products and services for the automotive, space and defense, and civil systems markets worldwide. The company's 1996 sales totaled approximately $10 billion.

CONTACT: TRW Inc.

A. Brooks McKinney, 310/814-8177