ManTech International Corporation (NASDAQ:MANT) announced today that polymer films developed and manufactured by its NeXolve subsidiary form part of the primary shield element for NASA's recently launched Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) mission.
ManTech's NeXolve Novastrat(R) polymer film forms the primary optic covering for NuSTAR (Photo: Business Wire)
NuSTAR, launched June 13, 2012 from the Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll, will deploy the first focusing telescopes to image the sky in the high-energy X-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Called a "black hole hunter", NuSTAR's two-year primary mission is to find and study black holes, supernovae and other high-energy cosmic objects. The intent is to better understand how black holes are distributed through the universe, how massive star explosions create heavy elements and what fuels the jets of particles emanating from the most extreme active galaxies.
ManTech is teaming with San Diego-based Surface Optics Corporation to provide the protective materials for NuSTAR. ManTech's NeXolve Novastrat® polyimide, a low CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) polyimide film with embedded ripstops, forms the primary optic covering for the NuSTAR instrument. Surface Optics Corporation applied an X-ray transparent, solar-rejecting thermal control coating to the Novastrat® film using advanced ion-assisted deposition (IAD) technology. This collaborative technology can provide multi-layer metallic and dielectric coatings for reflectors and optics up to 2.5 meters in diameter, and roll-to-roll materials over 1,000 meters long and up to 60" wide. For more information, visit systems engineering at ManTech.com.
"NuSTAR provides dramatic advances in the observation of the high-energy X-ray spectrum, enhancing our ability to explore the universe," said Louis Addeo, president and chief operating officer of ManTech's Technical Services Group. "ManTech is very pleased to be able to contribute our advanced materials technology to this important space mission."
About NuSTAR
NuSTAR is a Small Explorer mission led by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The spacecraft was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Va. Its instrument was built by a consortium including Caltech; JPL; the University of California, Berkeley; Columbia University, New York; NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; the Danish Technical University in Denmark; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif.; and ATK Aerospace Systems, Goleta, Calif. NuSTAR will be operated by UC Berkeley, with the Italian Space Agency providing its equatorial ground station located at Malindi, Kenya. The mission's outreach program is based at Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, Calif. NASA's Explorer Program is managed by Goddard. JPL is managed by Caltech for NASA. Launch management and government oversight for the mission is the responsibility of NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/nustar and http://www.nustar.caltech.edu/.
About ManTech International Corporation
ManTech is a leading provider of innovative technologies and solutions for mission-critical national security programs for the intelligence community; the Department of Defense, including health organizations; the departments of State, Homeland Security, Energy and Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); the space community; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and other U.S. federal government customers. We provide support to critical national security programs for approximately 60 federal agencies through 1,000 current contracts. ManTech's expertise includes command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) lifecycle support; cyber security; global logistics support; intelligence/counter-intelligence support; information technology (IT) modernization and sustainment; systems engineering; test and evaluation; and health IT. ManTech supports major national missions, such as military readiness, terrorist threat detection, information security and border protection. Additional information on ManTech can be found at www.mantech.com.
Forward-Looking Information
Statements and assumptions made in this press release, which do not address historical facts, constitute "forward-looking" statements that ManTech believes to be within the definition in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control. These forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results and outcomes may differ materially from the results and outcomes we anticipate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those we anticipate include, but are not limited to, adverse changes in U.S. government spending and mission priorities; government contract procurement (such as a bid protest) risks; the failure to obtain option awards, task orders or funding under the contract; risk of contract performance, modification, or termination; and competition. These and other risk factors are more fully discussed in the section entitled "Risks Factors" in ManTech's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 24, 2012, and from time to time in ManTech's other filings. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are only made as of the date of this press release, and ManTech undertakes no obligation to publicly update any of the forward-looking statements made herein, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or circumstances, changes in expectations or otherwise.
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Contacts:
ManTech International Corporation
Lauren Kushin, 703-218-6406
lauren.kushin@mantech.com
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