Feb. 25, 2009

Beth Dickey
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2087
beth.dickey-1{at}nasa.gov

RELEASE: 09-036

NASA ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2008 GEORGE M. LOW AWARD FOR QUALITY

WASHINGTON -- NASA has presented its premier honor for quality and
performance, the George M. Low Award, to three companies that share a
commitment to teamwork, technical and managerial excellence, safety,
and customer service.

The 2008 Low Awards were presented Feb. 25 at NASA's sixth annual
Project Management Challenge in Daytona Beach, Fla., to:

-- ARES Corporation, which provides high-end technical services as
prime contractor for the International Space Station Program
Integration and Control contract. ARES received the award in the
small business service category. NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston nominated the company.

-- The Boeing Company, which has processed every major payload flown
on the space shuttle since 2002 under its Checkout, Assembly and
Payload Processing Services contract. Boeing received the award in
the large business service category. NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida nominated the company.

-- Oceaneering Space Systems, which has a Houston office that
specializes in adapting established technologies for safe use in
space. The company has delivered more than 7,000 products on
NASA-funded contracts during the past three years. Oceaneering
received the award in the large business product category. NASA's
Johnson Space Center nominated the company.

The agency also recognized one finalist, United Space Alliance at
Johnson, in the large business service category.

Established in 1985 and formerly known as NASA's Excellence Award for
Quality and Productivity, the Low award demonstrates the agency's
commitment to promote excellence and continual improvement by
challenging NASA's contractor community to be a global benchmark of
quality management practices.

In 1990, the award was renamed in memory of George M. Low, an
outstanding NASA leader during his 27-year tenure at the agency. Low
was the deputy administrator from 1969 to1976 and a leader in the
early development of NASA's space programs.

For more information about the George M. Low Award, visit:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/gml

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

 http://www.nasa.gov

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