An alert FrontBurnervian brings to our attention the fact that a Garland company manufactured part of the Mars Curiosity rover. From the release issued by Micropac: “The Mast Cameras (Mastcam) uses Hall Effect position sensors to provide precise indexing of Mastcam’s filter wheel to align 1 of the 8 filters to the lens assembly.” If you’re Micropac, you gotta be kicking yourself for those seven filters that got away from you. Full release after the jump.
MICROPAC RETURNS TO MARS!
HALL EFFECT SENSORS ON MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY
GARLAND, TX (08/06/2012) — Micropac congratulates NASA on the successful landing of the rover Curiosity for the Mars Science Laboratory mission.
Micropac hermetic Hall Effect Sensors are being used by Alliance Spacesystems, LLC, and Malin Space Science Systems in camera mechanisms on the MSL Rover. The Mast Cameras (Mastcam) uses Hall Effect position sensors to provide precise indexing of Mastcam’s filter wheel to align 1 of the 8 filters to the lens assembly. The Mars Hand-Lens Imager (MAHLI) utilizes our sensors as an indicator of the position of MAHLI’s protective lens cover. Micropac Hall Effect sensors were chosen for their reliability and harsh environment capabilities.
Mark King, CEO of Micropac Industries states, “All of us at Micropac are very excited and honored to support NASA for this very important mission.”
Our heritage on Mars began manufacturing custom power modules for the Viking Landers in the 1970s. Micropac Industries Inc. also provided High Voltage Opto-Isolator and Solid State Relay components on the Phoenix Lander, which confirmed the presence of water ice on the surface of Mars in 2008.
