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LOCKHEED MARTIN TEAM RECEIVES $6 MILLION DESIGN STUDY CONTRACT FOR
NASA'S JUPITER ICY MOONS ORBITER PROGRAM

DENVER, CO, June 10, 2003 -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has
awarded a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] team one of three $6 million
concept design study contracts for the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter
(JIMO). JIMO would be the first outer planets mission to fly under
NASA's Project Prometheus Program. 

Project Prometheus was established in 2003 as part of NASA's Nuclear
Systems Initiative to develop technology and conduct advanced studies
for space nuclear power and electric propulsion, for the peaceful
exploration of the solar system. NASA's Office of Space Science's
Nuclear Systems Initiative is planning to develop radioisotope space
electric power sources for use where solar energy is too weak, as
well as the new fission reactor power sources for much higher power
requirements. Project Prometheus would demonstrate that a reactor
could be operated safely and reliably in space for use by propulsion
and other spacecraft systems to explore the solar system and return
science that is otherwise unachievable. 

"We're extremely pleased to be participating in the JIMO program,"
said Jim Crocker, Lockheed Martin Space Systems vice president of
civil space. "We believe that our long heritage implementing NASA
deep space missions, and our leadership in the technologies that make
them possible, will serve us well in moving this very exciting
mission from the drawing board into space."

The Lockheed Martin team brings decades of experience from across the
country to the JIMO program, including it's leading role in NASA's
deep space science missions, leading the SP-100 space reactor
development program, and being the only supplier of space
radioisotope power conversion systems to NASA for more than 25 years.

The design studies will evaluate many different technologies for the
reactor, power conversion, electric propulsion, and other aspects of
the JIMO spacecraft and follow-on missions. Once the technologies are
selected, the studies will prepare conceptual design and development
planning for the JIMO mission. NASA is planning to select an industry
prime contractor in the August 2004 timeframe to develop, launch and
operate the spacecraft. 

The abundant power available from the reactor would drive an electric
propulsion system on JIMO, which is required to achieve the mission
science objectives of orbiting the three icy moons of Jupiter --
Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa. NASA's previous mission designs to
Jupiter's moons required gravity assists from planets, severe
constraints of spacecraft and instrument power, and limited
exploration of the moons during flybys. JIMO would maintain maximum
flexibility in its launch opportunities, would observe each of the
moons for long periods then move to the next, and would make
unprecedented electrical power available to its instrument suite. 

To explore the universe and search for life is central to the mission
of NASA. Jupiter's large icy moons appear to have three ingredients
considered essential for life: water, energy, and the necessary
chemical elements. As such, the JIMO mission has three top-level
science goals: 

1. Evaluate the potential for sustaining life on these moons. This
would include determining whether the moons do indeed have subsurface
oceans; mapping where organic compounds and other chemicals of
biological interest lie on the surface; and determining the
thicknesses of ice layers, with emphasis on locating potential future
landing sites. 

2. Investigate the origin and evolution of these moons. This would
include determining their interior structures, surface features and
surface compositions in order to interpret their evolutionary
histories (geology, geochemistry, geophysics) and how this
illuminates the understanding of the origin and evolution of the
Earth.

3. Determine the radiation environments around these moons and the
rates at which the moons are weathered by material hitting their
surfaces. Callisto, Ganymede and Europa all orbit within the powerful
magnetic environment that surrounds Jupiter. They display varying
effects from the natural radiation, charged particles and dust within
this environment. Understanding this environment has implications for
understanding whether life could have arisen on these distant moons.

NASA will choose the final suite of scientific instruments that would
carry out the JIMO mission objectives through a competitive process
open to proposals from scientists worldwide. Two highly probable ones
are a radar instrument for mapping the thickness of surface ice and a
laser instrument for mapping surface elevations. Others would likely
include a camera, an infrared imager, a magnetometer, and instruments
to study charged particles, atoms and dust that the spacecraft
encounters near each moon. A generous electrical power supply
available from the onboard nuclear system could run higher-powered
instruments than have flown on other spacecraft and would boost the
data-transmission rate back to Earth. 

To allow sufficient development and ground-testing time, the JIMO
mission is not proposed for launch before the year 2011. A heavy lift
expendable launch vehicle would lift the spacecraft into high Earth
orbit. The ion-propulsion thrusters would spiral the spacecraft away
from Earth and then on its trip to Jupiter. After entering orbit
around Jupiter, the spacecraft would then orbit Callisto, then
Ganymede, and finally Europa. The intensity of the radiation belts at
Europa limits how long a spacecraft's electronics are able to operate
in orbit around Europa, even with advances in radiation-resistant
electronics that would be used on this mission. The instruments
onboard the spacecraft would take uniform measurements, using the
same complement of instruments, of all three moons. Special attention
would be paid to identifying high-potential future landing sites.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company is one of the major operating
units of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Space Systems designs,
develops, tests, manufactures, and operates a variety of advanced
technology systems for military, civil and commercial customers.
Chief products include a full-range of space launch systems,
including heavy-lift capability, ground systems, remote sensing and
communications satellites for commercial and government customers,
advanced space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft, fleet
ballistic missiles and missile defense systems. Headquartered in
Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global enterprise principally
engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, and
integration of advanced-technology systems, products, and services.
The Corporation's core businesses are systems integration, space,
aeronautics, and technology services. Employing about 125,000 people
worldwide, Lockheed Martin had 2002 sales surpassing $26.6 billion.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Low- and high-resolution JPEG image files of a JIMO
artist's concept are available.

June 2003

03-19

# # #

Media Contact:
Buddy Nelson,
(510) 797-0349; e-mail,
buddynelson{at}mac.com

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