A Journey to Jupiter’s Orbit Begins with Titanium
A Journey to Jupiter’s Orbit Begins with Titanium
“Juno, welcome to Jupiter.”
Those words erupted into cheers at NASA on July 4, 2016, after its satellite Juno successfully completed a five-year journey to Jupiter’s orbit. During its 37 orbit mission, Juno will give researchers insight into the origin and evolution of our solar system’s largest planet.
But before it could be launched into space, the Juno satellite needed the right team—and the right materials—to prepare for the journey.
When ordering aerospace titanium parts for the satellite, Johns Hopkins University Production Planner Michael Gardner turned to United Titanium. Having been a customer for more than 10 years, Gardner said he relies on the company’s speed and precision.
“I can send them at drawing at 8 a.m., and by 8:30 a.m. I’ll have a response back with a price and delivery date,” said Gardner. “It doesn’t take them days. It takes them minutes to work up a price and get back to me.”
Gardner said with every order, United Titanium consistently meets the delivery date it commits to. “Most of the time they’re earlier than what they committed. Never later—always earlier,” he said. When the finished product arrives, it’s complete with the necessary quality testing paperwork that Gardner’s team requires.
After years of working with United Titanium, Gardner said his relationship with the sales team has reached a point where they anticipate his project needs.
“They already know what my requirements are,” he said. “I don’t really have to be too specific every time. I can just drop them an email. [They] already know it needs to be titanium. It needs to be made to this spec, and it needs to have this coating on it before I get it. It really cuts down on repetitive requests.”