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Record-Breaking Unmanned NASA Balloon Flight Relies on BiTMICRO E-Disk for Data Storage

Business Wire, May 17, 2005

WASHINGTON -- BiTMICRO(R) Networks, a pioneer in intelligent flash IDE/ATA, SCSI, VME, CompactPCI, and Fibre Channel solid state disk storage solutions, today announced at the AFCEA TechNet International 2005 show in Washington, DC, that Pennsylvania State University has relied on BiTMICRO's solid state E-Disk(R) flash drive to provide a dependable data storage device for the Cosmic Rays Energetics And Mass (CREAM) project.

The CREAM project is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-sponsored high-altitude balloon experiment led by the University of Maryland in collaboration with the Pennsylvania State University, the University of Chicago, and other universities and organizations in Italy, Korea, France and Mexico. The objective of this latest CREAM project was to investigate the composition of ultra high-energy cosmic rays utilizing the Long Duration Balloon (LDB) vehicle technology developed by NASA.

The pilot-less, helium-filled scientific balloon and its CREAM payload was launched from the National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station, Antarctica on December 16, 2004. It traveled 41 days and 22 hours, breaking the previous unmanned balloon flight record of 31 days and 20 hours. All throughout the flight, CREAM instruments recorded about 36GB of heavy nuclei data onto a 43GB E-Disk flash disk drive.

"The E-Disk solid state flash disk behaved flawlessly in this record-breaking endeavor. Although we initially thought of purchasing a 30GB model, we decided to acquire a higher capacity SSD," says Stephane Coutu, Associate Professor of Physics, Pennsylvania State University. "We are really happy about this decision since we ended up with a longer flight than we ever dared hope," Coutu added.

"Reliable devices are critical in scientific experiments such as the CREAM project. By integrating E-Disk flash solid state disk storage into the project, engineers were able to maximize data gathering opportunities and push CREAM to the limit," says Rudy Bruce, President of BiTMICRO Networks.

Visit BiTMICRO Networks at Booth 233 of AFCEA TechNet International 2005. The event runs from May 17-19, 2005 at the Washington D.C. Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

About AFCEA TechNet International 2005

Considered as one of the largest C4I conferences and expositions, TechNet International 2005 features exhibits from more than 250 technology leaders and discussions by leading military experts. The event is organized by AFCEA, an international non-profit association providing a forum for the professional communications, electronics, intelligence and information systems community.

About BiTMICRO Networks

BiTMICRO(R) Networks (http://www.bitmicro.com), a privately held California corporation, is the leading provider of rugged and high performance non-volatile solid state disk, flash disk drive, and network storage and management solutions. E-Disk(R) storage solutions are offered with SCSI, IDE/ATA, Fibre Channel, VME and cPCI interfaces in 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch hard disk drive footprints, 3U and 6U board, and 19-inch rack mount configurations scalable up to several terabytes of pure solid state storage.

With a growing workforce of 160 employees in its Silicon Valley headquarters and around the globe, BiTMICRO maintains its commitment to invent, design and deliver storage solutions that drive business value.

E-Disk(R) and BiTMICRO(R) are registered trademarks of BiTMICRO Networks, Inc. High-resolution photo images of BiTMICRO's product line are available at http://www.bitmicro.com/press_multimedia.php.>