DALSA CCD Chips Deliver Stunning Mars Images

the "magic" of the digital age is all in the chips

Waterloo - Jan 15, 2004
Three days after successfully landing on Mars, the Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit" has successfully begun transmitting high resolution colour images of the "red" planet. The CCD image sensor chips, designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, were manufactured at DALSA's semiconductor wafer production facility in Bromont, Quebec.

The space-qualified chips are critical components in the nine electronic cameras aboard each of the two Rovers. "Spirit" landed on Saturday, January 3rd, and "Opportunity," its twin, is expected to land on the other side of the planet in three weeks.

Three cameras on each Rover are responsible for scientific investigation, including panoramic and stereoscopic images. Six other cameras aid in navigating the vehicle on the surface of Mars.

The cameras will serve as the vehicle's "electronic eyes", as it examines its landing site for geological evidence of past liquid water activity and past environmental conditions hospitable to life.

Spirit's high resolution "Pancam", which employs the DALSA-manufactured chips, is the most sophisticated color imaging system ever sent to the surface of another planet and is responsible for the colour images Spirit has transmitted to earth.

The stereo pair of CCD cameras is located on a "camera bar" that sits on top of the mast of the Rover and is responsible for taking high resolution views of the surface and sky through eight different coloured filters.

Pancam's mast assembly allows it to rotate a complete 360 deg while the camera bar itself can swing up or down through 180 deg of elevation. This allows the cameras to generate stunning panoramic image mosaics as large as 4,000 pixels high by 24,000 pixels around, equivalent to a 96 megapixel image.

"We're extremely proud of the contribution our employees at Bromont have made to this landmark achievement in space exploration," commented Savvas Chamberlain, CEO of DALSA Corporation. "We have a good working history with NASA/JPL and we're thrilled that we can once again play a role in such an important project."

The Mars Exploration Rover is the second high profile space related project DALSA has been involved in the past several years. Engineers in Waterloo supplied the space-qualified CCD camera electronics for the Canadarm2 robotic arm that was installed at the International Space Station in April 2001.

MARSDAILY

AFRL Computer Guides NASA Rovers to Mars

Kirtland AFB - Jan 12, 2004
Radiation-resistant computers developed here by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) helped not only steer one of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers to the red planet last week, they also guided it to a safe and spectacular landing on Mar's rocky surface. Another landing is scheduled for later in the month.