Alcoa Fuels NASA's Return to Flight with Space Shuttle Discovery; Alcoa Employee Honored at Space Shuttle Launch

Business Wire, July 26, 2005

PITTSBURGH -- Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced today that it fueled NASA's return to flight today by supplying products and solutions to the NASA Space Shuttle Program including the aluminum powder that boosted Space Shuttle Discovery into orbit.

Also at the launch festivities, Alcoa employee Daniel Gray King received the Space Flight Awareness Honoree Award from Alcoa's customer, ATK Thiokol, for his excellence in quality and safety. King is the commercial director of the Powder Business at Alcoa Primary Metals in Rockdale, Texas.

NASA and subcontractors that provide critical hardware, software and services bestow the Space Flight Awareness Award on suppliers and employees who make significant contributions to the NASA Space Shuttle, Space Station or payload programs.

"Mr. King was instrumental in developing the current partnership that exists between ATK Thiokol, NASA and Alcoa," said Mike Kahn, vice president of Space Launch Systems at ATK Thiokol. "He has demonstrated his dedication to the space shuttle program by supporting all NASA initiatives, and his pro-active approach to resolving any issues that arise has allowed Alcoa to provide a consistently uniform, high-quality product in a timely manner."

Alcoa is the sole provider of aluminum powder to the NASA Space Shuttle Program, and ATK Thiokol is the nation's only supplier of human-rated solid rocket motors for access to space. The aluminum powder is essential to ATK Thiokol's solid rocket propellants that lifted Space Shuttle Discovery into orbit.

"I am honored to receive this award, and I look forward to continuing to provide ATK and NASA with the highest level of service and quality," said King, who was an honored guest at the launch. "Viewing the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery will be a momentous occasion. It is expected to burn approximately 375,000 pounds of Alcoa aluminum powder in just two minutes generating 5.2 million pounds of thrust."

In addition to the aluminum powder, Alcoa provides airfoils to the main engine of the space shuttle. Alcoa also has a seat on NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel that was convened in 2003. Rick Williams, Alcoa's worldwide director of safety, sits on the panel and has assisted NASA in its ongoing review of safety systems, operations and culture as it has prepared for returning space shuttles to flight.

About Alcoa

Alcoa is the world's leading producer and manager of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina facilities, and is active in all major aspects of the industry. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design, engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa's businesses to customers. In addition to aluminum products and components, Alcoa also markets consumer brands including Reynolds Wrap(R) foils and plastic wraps, Alcoa(R) wheels, and Baco(R) household wraps. Among its other businesses are vinyl siding, closures, fastening systems, precision castings, and electrical distribution systems for cars and trucks. The company has 131,000 employees in 43 countries and has been a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average for 45 years and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes since 2001. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com.

About ATK

ATK is a $3 billion advanced weapons and space systems company employing approximately 14,000 people in 23 states. News and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com.