BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --The Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) delivered unprecedented science in 2012 including the discovery of the oldest galaxy to date.

Installed by shuttle astronauts during the 2008 Servicing Mission (SM4), the WFC3 is Hubble's most technologically advanced visible spectrum instrument. In addition to WFC3, the SM4 included installation of the Ball-built Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), an instrument 30 times more sensitive in the far-ultraviolet than earlier Hubble ultraviolet spectrographs.

According to scientists, the most recent discovery made by Hubble showed that the galaxy, known as UDFj-39546284, likely existed when the universe was just 380 million years old. The other six distant galaxies all formed within 600 million years of the Big Bang, which created our universe about 13.7 billion years ago. UDFj-39546284 was detected previously, and researchers had thought it formed just 500 million years or so after the Big Bang. The WFC3 infrared observations push its probable formation time back even further. Also in 2012:

Ball Aerospace built seven Hubble science instruments including the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) instrument that corrected the spherical aberration of Hubble's primary mirror.

Beyond the COSTAR, WFC3 and COS, Ball-built Hubble instruments include: the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph; the Near-infrared Camera and Multi-object Spectrometer; the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph; and the Advanced Camera for Surveys.

The James Webb Space Telescope will be the next-generation NASA space observatory. Providing the eyes of the telescope, Ball Aerospace is the principal subcontractor for the Webb to Northrop Grumman, contributing the advanced optical technology and lightweight mirror system.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions for national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA and other U.S. government and commercial entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications. For more information, visit http://www.ballaerospace.com.

Ball Corporation (BLL) is a supplier of high quality packaging for beverage, food and household products customers, and of aerospace and other technologies and services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more than 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2011 sales of more than $8.6 billion. For the latest Ball news and for other company information, please visit http://www.ball.com.

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Ball Aerospace Celebrates Hubble Space Telescope 2012 Science Achievements