Essex LOX Equipment Selected by Japanese Ministry of Defense

On March 11, 2011, the most powerful earthquake ever known to hit Japan occurred off their Pacific coast.  The earthquake triggered massive tsunami waves which travelled inland, causing three nuclear reactors to meltdown.

The aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami created a humanitarian crisis of epic proportion–a reported 15,867 dead, 6,109 injured and 2,909 missing.  Over 340,000 people were displaced from their homes and the area suffered shortages of food, water, shelter, medicine and fuel.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense (JMOD) immediately mobilized their Self Defense Forces (JSDF) to search for and aid survivors.  In their medical relief efforts, they dealt with widespread power outages and serious problems locating and deploying gaseous oxygen in the field to the victims.

To learn more about this story and how they have prepared for future disasters with the help of Essex, click here.

Essex LOX Converters Used in Space Jump

On October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner jumped to Earth from a balloon 24 Miles above New Mexico and made history.  The 43 year-old Austrian became the first skydiver to break the sound barrier, reaching a maximum velocity of 834 mph (Mach 1.24) and setting records for highest balloon ascent, highest parachute jump and fastest speed by a human through the atmosphere.

As he rose to record heights in the stratosphere for his jump, Baumgartner was protected in a specially-built pressurized capsule.  At his jump altitude, the air pressure is less than 2% of what it is at sea level, making it impossible to breathe without an oxygen supply.

Two Essex 10 liter LOX converters were installed on the capsule which provided Baumgartner with oxygen to breathe at the elevated altitude.  Additionally, an Essex 25 liter nitrogen converter and three heat exchangers were used for this record-breaking event.

Eight million YouTube viewers have watched Baumgartner’s achievement and National Geographic has released a documentary in conjunction with the BBC called “Space Dive”. Check it out to see if you can spot the Essex equipment.

Essex Industries Receives Silver Boeing Performance Excellence Award

Essex is proud to announce that it has received two 2012 Boeing Performance Excellence Awards.  The Boeing Company issues the award annually to recognize suppliers who have achieved superior performance.  Essex maintained a Silver composite performance rating each month of the 12-month performance period, from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012.

This year, Boeing recognized 594 suppliers who achieved either a Gold or Silver level Boeing Performance Excellence Award.  Essex is one of only 441 suppliers to receive the Silver level of recognition.

Two facilities of Essex received a Silver Award: the Carr Lane Court facility supplies Protective Breathing Equipment (PBE) to Boeing for all of their commercial aircraft and the Chivvis Drive facility provides four different kinds of Heat Exchangers for the C-17 Globemaster III program as well as a variety of spare parts.