Ball Aerospace's Pollution Monitoring Instrument Achieves First Light

August 24, 2023

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Aug. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ball Aerospace is celebrating alongside its mission partners today as the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument releases its first images of Earth, the next step in its mission to improve air quality monitoring across greater North America.  

TEMPO launched on April 7, 2023, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as part of NASA's Earth Venture Instrument program and led by Principal Investigator Kelly Chance of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). Following a monthslong commissioning process, the Ball-built instrument opened its aperture for the first time to perform solar calibration and make its inaugural scan across the continent. The instrument is performing as expected in its initial tests.

"Achieving first light from TEMPO is a major milestone in our goal to provide a complete picture of air quality issues across the United States and beyond," said Dr. Alberto Conti, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Ball Aerospace. "This mission will fundamentally transform the way we measure pollutants in our air, providing new insights for public health officials, atmospheric researchers and members of the public looking to protect themselves from dangerous conditions."

TEMPO uses a geostationary ultraviolet/visible spectrometer to scan across the continent hourly — over the continental United States in addition to most of Mexico and Canada — capturing daytime measurements of major air pollutants like ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and formaldehyde. The high-resolution and frequency of images will provide precise data on the origin, concentration and movement of pollution over time, far exceeding the capabilities of current ground-based monitoring systems.

Now that the instrument is active, the TEMPO team will spend the coming months validating spatial, spectral and radiometric performance, as well as the science data processing chain. Once that process is complete, members of the public and the scientific community will have access to near real-time data packaged by the CfA and distributed by NASA.

TEMPO was developed alongside the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS), another Ball Aerospace-built instrument that launched in 2020 as part of an air quality monitoring mission for the South Korean National Institute of Environmental Research.

The TEMPO mission is a collaboration between NASA's Langley Research Center and the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. The instrument is integrated and hosted on Intelsat's IS-40e satellite built by Maxar.

Powered by endlessly curious people with an unwavering mission focus, Ball Aerospace pioneers discoveries that enable our customers to perform beyond expectation and protect what matters most. We create innovative space solutions, enable more accurate weather forecasts, drive insightful observations of our planet, deliver actionable data and intelligence, and ensure those who defend our freedom go forward bravely and return home safely. Go Beyond with Ball.® For more information, visit www.ball.com/aerospace or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

About Ball Corporation
Ball Corporation (NYSE: BALL) supplies innovative, sustainable aluminum packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 21,000 people worldwide and reported 2022 net sales of $15.35 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements 
This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," and similar expressions typically identify forward-looking statements, which are generally any statements other than statements of historical fact. Such statements are based on current expectations or views of the future and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied. You should therefore not place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, and they should be read in conjunction with, and qualified in their entirety by, the cautionary statements referenced below. Ball undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to be different are summarized in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99 in Ball's Form 10-K, which are available on Ball's website and at www.sec.gov. Additional factors that might affect: a) Ball's packaging segments include product capacity, supply, and demand constraints and fluctuations and changes in consumption patterns; availability/cost of raw materials, equipment, and logistics; competitive packaging, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather and related events such as drought, wildfires, storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods; footprint adjustments and other manufacturing changes, including the startup of new facilities and lines; failure to achieve synergies, productivity improvements or cost reductions; unfavorable mandatory deposit or packaging laws; customer and supplier consolidation; power and supply chain interruptions; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; inability to pass through increased costs; war, political instability and sanctions, including relating to the situation in Russia and Ukraine and its impact on Ball's supply chain and its ability to operate in Europe, the Middle East and Africa regions generally; changes in foreign exchange or tax rates; and tariffs, trade actions, or other governmental actions, including business restrictions and orders affecting goods produced by Ball or in its supply chain, including imported raw materials; b) Ball's aerospace segment include funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts; failure to obtain, or delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals or clearances for the proposed transaction; any failure by the parties to satisfy any of the other conditions to the proposed transaction; the possibility that the proposed transaction is ultimately not consummated; potential adverse effects of the announcement or results of the proposed transaction on the ability to develop and maintain relationships with personnel and customers, suppliers and others with whom it does business or otherwise on the business, financial condition, results of operations and financial performance; risks related to diversion of management's attention from ongoing business operations due to the proposed transaction; the impact of the proposed transaction on the ability to retain and hire key personnel; and c) Ball as a whole include those listed above plus: the extent to which sustainability-related opportunities arise and can be capitalized upon; changes in senior management, succession, and the ability to attract and retain skilled labor; regulatory actions or issues including those related to tax, environmental, social and governance reporting, competition, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. Federal Drug Administration and other actions or public concerns affecting products filled in Ball's containers, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; technological developments and innovations; the ability to manage cyber threats; litigation; strikes; disease; pandemic; labor cost changes; inflation; rates of return on assets of Ball's defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; uncertainties surrounding geopolitical events and governmental policies, including policies, orders, and actions related to COVID-19; reduced cash flow; interest rates affecting Ball's debt; successful or unsuccessful joint ventures, acquisitions and divestitures, and their effects on Ball's operating results and business generally; and potential adverse effects of the announcement or results of the proposed transaction on the market price of Ball Corporation's common stock.

SOURCE Ball Aerospace