Four Companies Receive Contractor Excellence Awards from NASA’s Marshall Center

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has selected four
companies to receive the Center’s Contractor Excellence Awards for 2003.

ATK Thiokol Propulsion of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Hamilton Sundstrand
Space Systems, Inc. of Windsor Locks, Conn., will share the award in the
large business product category. Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc. of
Huntsville takes the award for the large business- service category; and
ERC, Inc. of Huntsville will receive the small business service category
award.

The Marshall Center will publicly recognize each of the companies in
ceremonies during the coming weeks.

Selections were made based on judging and scores in seven basic areas,
including customer satisfaction; contract technical performance; schedule
performance; cost performance; management initiatives responsive to NASA’s
strategic goals; leadership and continuous improvement; and innovative
technology breakthroughs.

ATK Thiokol supplies the massive, reusable solid rocket motors that are part
of the solid rocket booster assemblies, the two pencil-shaped rockets on
each side of the Space Shuttle on every Shuttle flight. The company is
recognized for reducing the cycling time – the period it takes to prepare
the rocket motors for re-use — by 25 percent over the past four years and
for implementing cost savings of approximately $13.5 million under its
current contract.

Hamilton Sundstrand is recognized for saving $1.05 million by reducing and
avoiding costs on two life support systems for the International Space
Station. The water processor assembly and oxygen generation assembly are
inside Node 3 — a pressurized module that will provide docking ports,
living areas and other systems when added to the Space Station. The firm is
also cited for its long-term strategic plan in safety, technology, quality
and leadership development areas.

Teledyne Brown Engineering performs payload integration — scheduling
payloads or cargo — for the Space Station, provides service and support for
the operation and maintenance of propellants, pressurants and calibration
services, as well as engineering, analytical and integration support to
Marshall. Its award credits the company for saving $10 million over the past
three years, through controlling overall costs, and for its continuing
commitment to safety and quality assurance.

ERC, Inc. is recognized for its sustained, outstanding performance in its
work on four contracts. By reducing or avoiding costs for engineering
design, analysis and evaluation, the company cut 27 percent of its projected
spending on the reusable solid rocket motor performance contract. Also,
during installation of calibration laboratory software, the company avoided
60 percent of its contract’s estimated costs in the operation and
maintenance of propellants, pressurants and calibration facilities.

The honored companies also will be the Marshall Center’s 2004 nominees for
the George M. Low Award, NASA’s most prestigious award for quality and
performance in the aerospace industry. The winner of that honor will be
announced in the spring of 2005.