Northrop Grumman Demonstrates Rocket Engine Technology That Could Enable Return of...

Northrop Grumman Demonstrates Rocket Engine Technology That Could Enable Return
of U.S. Astronauts to Moon

REDONDO BEACH, Calif., June 29, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman
Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has demonstrated rocket engine technology that may enable
the return of American astronauts to the moon.

Working with NASA on the TR202 lunar descent engine, the company has
successfully demonstrated stable combustion over a broad throttling range,
utilizing high-performance pintle injector technology. The ability to throttle
thrust level over a wide range is critical to providing a soft, precision lunar
landing with hazard avoidance capability.

Northrop Grumman's heritage pintle injector technology was most notably used on
the original Lunar Module Descent Engine, performing flawlessly on each Apollo
descent to the moon's surface. Since then, the company has evolved the
technology for multiple applications, and is currently working with NASA to
develop the throttling pintle injector technology as a candidate propulsion
option for the Altair lunar lander.

Altair is the vehicle that NASA's Constellation program will develop to put
humans on the moon. Northrop Grumman is supporting NASA on several elements of
the Constellation program, including the Altair vehicle conceptual design.

The significant technical objective of achieving combustion stability over a
10:1 throttle range while using liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen propellants
was successfully achieved early in the test program. Stable performance was
demonstrated at 9,000, 6,750, 2,250 and 900 pounds force (lbf) thrust levels and
an oxidizer-to-fuel mixture ratio of 6.0.

"Migrating our pintle engine technology from storable propellants utilized on
Apollo to higher performance cryogenic propellants needed for Altair is a
substantial achievement," said Tom Romesser, vice president and chief technology
officer for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.

The TR202 program is funded by NASA's Propulsion and Cryogenic Advanced
Development Project within the Exploration Technology Development Program.

"The pintle injector is ideal for descent engine applications," said Annik
Majamaki, Northrop Grumman program manager. "The TR202 team has worked hard to
get to the test stand, and now we have the opportunity to demonstrate the full
capability of this injector."

"Employing this technology for the descent engine opens the mission trade space,
enables the most efficient use of propellants during maneuvers and simplifies
overall mission propellant management," she noted. "The inherent combustion
stability demonstrated again by the pintle injector also simplifies the overall
engine design -- eliminating the need for complicated stability enhancement
mechanisms required by other injector configurations."

Testing the throttling injector has been a collaborative effort, teaming
Northrop Grumman and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) propulsion engineers
who performed testing at MSFC's sea-level test facility. Pintle injector testing
is continuing with the goal of fully characterizing and optimizing the injector
for performance and combustion chamber heat transfer over a range of propellant
mixture ratios. This data will be valuable in scaling the engine technology to
the thrust level and overall spacecraft operational design to reduce risk for
development of a cryogenic deep throttling engine.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000
employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace,
electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to
government and commercial customers worldwide.

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CONTACT: Bob Bishop
Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
310.812.5227
Cell: 310.251.0261
bob.j.bishop@ngc.com