Genesis Spacecraft Powered by Aerojet Propulsion Heads Back to Earth

Aerojet-built rocket
engines have provided the necessary propulsion for the Genesis spacecraft in
its mission to collect particles of the solar wind. Genesis, a NASA Discovery
Mission, will return a capsule containing the solar wind samples to Earth on
Sept. 8, 2004 that will be recovered in mid-air over at the Utah Testing and
Training Range.

Genesis under a
contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver, Colo., which built the
spacecraft under contract with NASA. Aerojet also provided the second-stage
liquid rocket engine and the nutation control thruster for the third stage on
Genesis’ Boeing Delta II launch vehicle. The Delta II launched Genesis on
Aug. 8, 2001.

“Aerojet is a proud member of the Genesis mission team,” said Aerojet
President Michael Martin. “We have celebrated multiple mission successes with
NASA and our customers throughout 2004 and eagerly anticipate the unique mid-
air recovery of Genesis. The understanding of solar system formation that
will be gained by the analysis of these rare samples will be phenomenal and it
has been an honor to contribute to overall mission success.”

Aerojet was involved in every aspect of the Genesis mission by providing
propulsion systems on the spacecraft and the launch vehicle. The spacecraft’s
rocket engines and nutation control thrusters were designed, tested and
manufactured at Aerojet’s Redmond, Wash. facility. The second-stage liquid
rocket engine was designed and built at Aerojet’s Sacramento, Calif. facility.

Genesis is fifth of 10 NASA Discovery Missions. Aerojet provided
propulsion for every NASA Discovery Mission launched to date, including NEAR,
Mars Pathfinder, Lunar Prospector, MESSENGER, and Stardust. Additional
Discovery Missions that will include Aerojet propulsion are Deep Impact, and
Dawn.

Aerojet, a GenCorp Company (NYSE: GY) is a world-recognized aerospace and
defense leader principally serving the missile and space propulsion, and
defense and armaments markets. GenCorp is a technology-based manufacturer with
positions in the aerospace and defense, pharmaceutical fine chemicals, and
real estate industries. Additional information about Aerojet and GenCorp can
be obtained by visiting the Companies’ web sites at www.aerojet.com and
www.GenCorp.com.