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August 10, 2005

Teledyne Delivers 12 Kilowatt PEM Fuel Cell Power Plant to NASA

Source: Empty Wells

Teledyne Technologies Incorporated today announced that Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc., delivered a 12 kilowatt Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell power plant to NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The delivery completes Phase II of Teledyne Energy Systems' contract awarded in 2001 to develop a more reliable, powerful, and low maintenance fuel cell power plant for use in future NASA spacecraft.

The power plant, known as an "engineering model" includes an advanced hydrogen/oxygen PEM fuel cell stack that provides 30 volts and up to 12 kilowatts of power without any power electronics, providing weight and reliability advantages. The engineering model also demonstrates advances in start up time, response to power changes, water management, and fuel efficiency.

"The advances achieved in the engineering model delivered to NASA demonstrate Teledyne Energy Systems' ability to rapidly develop and deploy systems for the space and aircraft sectors," said Robert Mehrabian, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Teledyne Technologies. "The engineering model provides a rigorously tested PEM fuel cell platform upon which to build flight rated production systems."

The engineering model will undergo testing at NASA, which includes vibration and thermal vacuum testing that simulates operation in the vacuum of space. Test results will be used to validate the system's readiness to proceed to the flight hardware development stage.

PEM fuel cells convert the energy available in hydrogen and oxygen to electricity and water. Under development by Teledyne for aerospace and defense applications, PEM fuel cells offer several advantages over the alkaline fuel cells currently used for spaceflight, such as the ability to use propellant-grade reactants, the potential for lower cost due to their wider commercial uses; lower maintenance costs due to their simpler design; and a greater operational flexibility created by their wide power band.

Teledyne Technologies is a leading provider of sophisticated electronic components, instruments and communication products, systems engineering solutions, aerospace engines and components and on-site gas and power generation systems. Teledyne Technologies has operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada.