CLEVELAND, Dec 18, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via Comtex/ -- Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH), one of the longest running suppliers to the aerospace industry, is continually exploring new heights that extend beyond the blue skies.
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Dating back to 1969, Parker traveled to the moon with the Apollo missions supporting the spacecraft with a number of critical components, including the isolation shut-off valves. In November 1969 during the Apollo 12 mission, the entire world heard astronaut Alan Bean acknowledge, "I cycled the Parker valve," as he landed on the moon. These valves controlled the lunar module's fuel and oxidizer thrusters, so one of the first post-landing steps for a lunar module was to close and re-open air valves to ensure efficient operation.
During the Apollo 13 crisis, Parker played a critical part in getting the three-man crew safely back to earth. While in space, an oxygen tank exploded destroying 50 percent of the spacecraft's needed oxygen. Since Parker's oxygen control assembly, one of 120 Parker products on the module, regulated the oxygen used to pressurize the lunar module cabin, as well as the astronauts' suits and exploration backpacks, NASA asked Parker engineers to help determine how the remaining oxygen could be used to sustain life and accomplish the critical re-entry maneuver.
A team of employees moved to a remote facility in the California desert and worked around the clock testing the highly explosive oxygen. The team ran test after test calculating the minimum consumption rate of the astronauts versus the amount of oxygen available. After each test, parameters were forwarded to NASA, who relayed them to the Apollo crew to implement. The hard work paid off. The Parker team found a solution that provided sufficient oxygen for the flight's duration and the crew was able to return safely to earth.
And since those early lunar missions, space programs around the world have been using Parker products to seal shuttle windows, hatches and igniters; connect astronaut oxygen tubes; and build efficient fuel systems. Parker is even onboard the world's highest construction project -- the International Space Station, providing vital technologies to sustain a controlled environment for the astronauts and their research. In fact, even the Hubble Space Telescope relies on Parker products to keep electronics onboard at the proper temperatures as it orbits the earth.
While space exploration is an ever-advancing example where Parker products are mission-critical, the company's motion-control applications range from aerospace technology to commercial aviation; telecommunications; energy and power generation; semiconductor fabrication; climate and industrial controls; processing industries; and automation.
In addition to marking the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight, this year also marked the 75th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's Atlantic crossing on May 20, 1927, a journey made possible in part by a Parker fuel system.
With annual sales exceeding $6 billion, Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin is the world's leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems, providing precision-engineered solutions for a wide variety of commercial, mobile, industrial and aerospace markets. The company employs more than 46,000 people in 44 countries around the world. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.parker.com or its investor information site at www.phstock.com .
SOURCE Parker Hannifin Corporation
Lorrie Paul Crum, Vice President - Corporate Communications of Parker Hannifin Corporation, +1-216-896-2750, or lcrum@parker.com
