Houston, Texas (February 19, 2007) - SPACEHAB, Incorporated (NASDAQ: SPAB), a leading provider of commercial space services, announced today that its Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary is proud to be a key contributor of NASA's THEMIS spacecraft mission through the support of fueling, testing, and spacecraft encapsulation operations leading up to Saturday's successful launch.
The Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft holds a unique constellation of five satellites designed to resolve the mystery of what triggers geomagnetic substorms - atmospheric events visible in the northern hemisphere as a sudden brightening of the Northern Lights. The five probes represent the largest number of scientific satellites NASA has ever launched aboard a single rocket.
Before Saturday's liftoff atop a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, THEMIS had a six-week stay at Astrotech's Titusville facilities where the probes underwent performance testing, fueling, and were each individually mated to the payload carrier and finally, to the upper stage booster.
"We congratulate the NASA Explorer Program and all those contributing to this exciting 'first' in the satellite industry," said SPACEHAB Executive Vice President, Jim Royston. "Along with our NASA customer, we anxiously await the discoveries THEMIS will reveal in the coming months."
Astrotech provides satellite processing facilities and services from its nine-building compound in Titusville, Florida as well as its Vandenberg Air Force Base location in California. The Company also provides facilities management and spacecraft processing services for the ocean-going Sea Launch program at the Home Port Facilities in Long Beach, California. The three sites combined have supported the processing of nearly 250 spacecraft.
