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About Southwest Research InstituteSouthwest Research Institute® (SwRI®), a San Antonio-based research and development organization, has a long history of designing and building power supplies, computers, and science instruments for various space missions. In the past 10 years, the scope of work has expanded to include astronomical and planetary science studies, particularly at a Boulder, Colorado, extension office. This is the first time the Institute has held responsibility for an entire spacecraft (IMAGE). One of the earliest space programs at SwRI occurred after a fire killed astronauts Roger Chaffee, Ed White, and Gus Grissom in 1967 when they were unable to escape a burning Apollo I during a test prior to launch. SwRI designed and built a fire extinguisher that thereafter became standard inventory for the Apollo program. More recently, two spectrometers were built for the Cassini and Deep Space 1 spacecraft that were launched in 1997 and 1998, respectively. Cassini is scheduled to reach Saturn in 2004, while Deep Space 1 is expected to arrive at Comet Borrelly in 2001. Other SwRI-developed instruments have been selected to fly on the Rosetta comet orbiter mission, a joint program by NASA and the European Space Agency, and the ESA Mars Express mission. Founded in 1947, the independent, nonprofit Institute has more than 2,973 employees and an annual research volume of about $300 million. More than 1,000 research programs are conducted each year in the areas of space science, chemistry and chemical engineering, emissions research, engine development, fuels and lubricants, avionics, training systems, automation and robotics, intelligent systems, geolocation, materials, nuclear safety and waste disposal, bioengineering, and machinery dynamics. For more information, contact: Maria I. Martinez |