NASA Selects Boeing for Neptune Missions Study Grant(2nd E=mc2 craft), page 1

ST. LOUIS, June 1, 2004 - While Boeing [NYSE: BA] is preparing to deliver a proposal to NASA�s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for what could become the nation�s first nuclear-fission powered exploration spacecraft, the company also is using its unique space heritage and expertise to propel robotic solar system exploration farther than Jupiter.

NASA recently granted Boeing $250,000 to provide a technology development road map for supporting science objectives for a mission to Neptune under its Vision Missions studies program. Boeing, the only industrial entity to receive such a grant, is providing mission design solutions for a possible Neptune polar orbiter with atmospheric probes.

�We look forward to supporting NASA in its conquest of space," says Mike Mott, Boeing NASA Systems vice president and general manager. �We will use our experience in complex space systems to enable NASA to gain more scientific insights into the solar system.�

Additionally, Boeing has joined two university-led Vision Missions teams providing robotic and human in-space assembly and servicing options for two possible space-based observatories. One is led by the University of Texas to study Vision Missions concepts for a Single Aperture Far Infrared (SAFIR) telescope and the other by Cornell University in its study of a Far-Infrared and Submillimeter Interferometer telescope (FIR/SMM). The universities were each awarded approximately $300,000 NASA Vision Missions grants.

University of Texas SAFIR principal science investigator Dan Lester says Boeing brings capabilities ranging from its nuclear heritage, to human space flight, to robotics, to the project study.

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