Lockheed Martin 1996 Annual Report Download - page 21

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Missiles & Space LM700 satellite bus.
Initial commercial service is expected
to begin in 1998.
Last year, NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory selected Missiles & Space to
join a team that will build, integrate and
test the Space Infrared Telescope Facility,
a cryogenically-cooled space observatory
that will conduct infrared astronomy
during a 36-month mission beginning in
2001. In addition, NASA selected
Lockheed Martin Astronautics to build the
Stardust spacecraft that will be launched
into the comet Wild-2 to collect samples
and return them to Earth in 2006. Closer
to home, the Global Geospace Science
Polar spacecraft was launched last year
with its mission to study solar-induced
phenomena in the polar regions of the
Earth. A significant long-term engineering
effort is the International Space Station.
In 1996, Missiles & Space began rigorous
testing of the solar array E-wing, a
new solar array design that will power the
facility during its lifetime on orbit.
Lockheed Martin Manned Space
Systems successfully completed in
1996 a series of tests on the new Super
Lightweight Tank for the Space Shuttle.
The tests demonstrated the tank's ability
to far exceed the stresses of launch.
Made of an advanced aluminum-lithium
alloy, the new tank will enhance the Space
Shuttle's cargo carrying ability to support
building the space station. The first of 25
Super Lightweight Tanks under contract is on
schedule for a first flight in December 1997.
In the missile defense arena, the Air
Force in November chose a Lockheed
Martin Missiles & Space team to develop
and demonstrate the Airborne Laser
(ABL) weapon system, a proposed boost-
phase defense against theater ballistic
missiles. During the course of the work
the industry team is to demonstrate that
the required laser technologies can be inte-
grated onto an airborne platform to shoot
down hostile tactical missiles at ranges of
hundreds of kilometers.
The U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin
Missiles & Space continued their Theater
High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
testing in 1996. Each test has provided
valuable data to aid in refining the
system's performance. THAAD is the first
weapon system designed specifically to
defend against theater ballistic missiles
using hit-to-kill technology, a technique
pioneered by Lockheed Martin.
The Air Force completed four suc-
cessful test flights of the Peacekeeper
intercontinental ballistic missile in 1996,
with support from Lockheed Martin
Astronautics.
1996 was a year of profound discov-
ery and achievement in the field of space
science, and Lockheed Martin played a
key role in those developments bringing
its combined expertise in launch vehicles,
spacecraft, satellites and systems integra-
tion to bear. Lockheed Martin's significant
technology assets, spanning the entire
Corporation, will continue to offer cus-
tomers total system solutions and turnkey
operations. •
19
Mars Global Surveyor,
built by Lockheed
Martin Astronautics,
was launched to Mars
in November in the
continuing exploration
of Earth's mysterious
neighbor.