Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Engine System Sends Spacecraft to Mars to Look for Water Sources

CANOGA PARK, Calif., August 6, 2007 – A Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A boosted a NASA Delta II rocket Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., which carried the Phoenix Mars Lander, an exotic probe that will investigate the surface of Mars to determine if water sources exist on the Red Planet. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. [NYSE:UTX] company.

A 33-year veteran of the American space program, the RS-27 series of engines has been matched with the Delta launch vehicle for as many years and boasts a 100 percent record of flawless launches. As the first–stage booster for the Delta II, the engine system developed 200,000 pounds of thrust at liftoff for about four-and-one-half-minutes of the flight. “This mission continues the amazing history of the RS-27A,” said Elizabeth Jones, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A program manager. “It’s another chapter in its legacy as one of the longest performing, and most reliable, rocket engines in the world.”

With its role in the Phoenix mission, the RS-27A has now powered three successful journeys to Mars, which include both Mars rovers, launched in 2003 that are still moving across the Martian surface, well beyond their predicted service lives.

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, offers a complete line of propulsion products from launch vehicles to missile defense to advanced hypersonic propulsion. These have been used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, and high altitude defense systems.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., USA, is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.

Bryan Kidder
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
818 586-2213
bryan.kidder@pwr.utc.com

John Mitchell
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
818 586-4564
john.mitchell@pwr.utc.com