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Contact:
Keith Takahashi |
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Contact:
Keith Takahashi |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
97-143
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif., June 30, 1997 -- McDonnell Douglas (NYSE: MD) has completed assembly of Pressurized Mating Adaptor 1 (PMA 1), one of the initial U.S.-built components of the International Space Station, and marked the occasion with a ceremony. PMA 1 is a cone-shaped, open-ended structure that will link the first large U.S.- and Russian-made components of the Station.
After acceptance tests, McDonnell Douglas will ship PMA 1 to Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in mid-July for integration with two other components -- Node 1 and PMA 2. Node 1 is a large cylindrical structure built by Boeing and outfitted by McDonnell Douglas that provides storage and attachment points for other modules, trusses and a Space Shuttle docking port.
These components will undergo more testing and preparation before launch in July 1998 on mission STS-88 aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Once in space, PMA 1 will form the passageway between Node 1 and the Russian Functional Cargo Block (FGB), which will be launched by a Russian Proton rocket next June. The FGB will furnish orbital control, communications and power to Node 1 until additional Space Station units are added.
Today's ceremony at McDonnell Douglas' Huntington Beach plant was hosted by Dr. Rodney Linford, vice president and general manager of the McDonnell Douglas Space Station program. Company employees, senior Boeing, NASA and other U.S. government officials attended. The visitors toured the assembly building and met with the 550 employees who built the PMA.
Linford noted the significance of this milestone in the overall Space Station effort. "Completion of this part and start of the Space Station build-up next year mark the beginning of one of the most ambitious international programs in history. Future generations will reap untold benefits from the scientific discoveries to be made possible in the microgravity environment of the Space Station. McDonnell Douglas is proud of its role in supplying major structures and systems for this massive multi-national venture," Linford said.
Other speakers were U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, which oversees NASA activities, NASA astronaut and Space Station Deputy Program Manager Kevin Chilton and Boeing Vice President, Space Station program Douglas Stone. They repeated their support of the Space Station program along with McDonnell Douglas Space & Defense Systems Vice President and General Manager Gale Schluter.
The Space Station is the largest cooperative peacetime scientific program among nations in history and will be used for scientific research that cannot be done on Earth. Participating are 11 countries of the European Space Agency, plus the United States, Japan, Canada and Russia. As the leader of Product Group 1, McDonnell Douglas is working as a major subcontractor to the Boeing Defense & Space Group.