BAE SYSTEMS' Processors Travel aboard MESSENGER to Mercury.MANASSAS, Va. -- BAE Systems' radiation-hardened RAD6000(TM) computers and solid state recorder assemblies headed for the planet Mercury August 3. The successful Delta II rocket launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) is the East Coast space launch facility of the United States Department of Defense. Located on Cape Canaveral in the State of Florida, it depends on Patrick Air Force Base, home of the 45th Space Wing. CCAFS is adjacent to the John F. , Florida, marked the beginning of a 4.9-billion-mile, 6.5-year journey to Mercury. The spacecraft MESSENGER will study the planet's geologic history and overall structure. "NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. and Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University, mainly at Baltimore, Md. Johns Hopkins in 1867 had a group of his associates incorporated as the trustees of a university and a hospital, endowing each with $3.5 million. Daniel C. scientists are trying to understand the formation of Earth and other planets. Our RAD6000s and solid state recorders will support that mission," said Laura Burcin, BAE Systems MESSENGER program manager. BAE Systems' Information & Electronic Warfare Systems (IEWS IEWS Intelligence, Electronic Warfare, and Sensors IEWS Integrated Electronic Warfare System IEWS Integrated Electronic Warfare Suite IEWS Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Surveillance IEWS Intelligence & Electronic Warfare System ) builds the RAD6000 high-performance 32-bit Reduced Instruction Set Computer (processor) Reduced Instruction Set Computer - (RISC) A processor whose design is based on the rapid execution of a sequence of simple instructions rather than on the provision of a large variety of complex instructions (as in a Complex Instruction Set Computer). (RISC RISC in full Reduced Instruction Set Computing Computer architecture that uses a limited number of instructions. RISC became popular in microprocessors in the 1980s. ) that operates in the heavily radiated space environment. The RAD6000 is based on the IBM RISC Single Chip RISC Single Chip (RSC) is a single chip microprocessor, based on POWER1, used in IBM RS/6000 models 220 and 230. See also
MESSENGER is set to become the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. Following a route that includes two fly-bys of Venus, MESSENGER should reach Mercury by March 2011. During its year-long orbit, MESSENGER will provide the first images of the entire planet and collect detailed information on the composition and structure of Mercury's crust, its geologic history, the nature of its thin atmosphere, active earth-like magnetosphere, and the makeup of its core and polar materials. The RAD6000 is one of a family of radiation-hardened protected computers developed and produced by BAE Systems in Manassas, Virginia, with the support of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. BAE Systems' microprocessors are also aboard two of NASA's most successful missions this year. The Mars Rovers "Opportunity" and "Spirit," which landed on the Red Planet in January, carried the RAD6000; and the Cassini spacecraft, which entered Saturn's orbit June 30, was guided by the Advanced Spaceborne Computer Module. The newest member of the processor family, the RAD750(TM), will be used on the Deep Impact mission slated to launch later this year. BAE Systems is an international company engaged in the development, delivery, and support of advanced defense and aerospace systems in the air, on land, at sea, and in space. BAE Systems Information & Electronic Warfare Systems is a major producer of aircraft self-protection systems and tactical surveillance and intelligence systems for all branches of the armed forces. To obtain additional information about us, visit "What's News" at: www.iews.na.baesystems.com |
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