BAE SYSTEMS Microprocessor Guides Rover Landings on Mars.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers MANASSAS, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 2004 BAE Systems-built "brains" are guiding "Spirit" and "Opportunity" -- Mars Rovers that successfully landed in January to explore the Red Planet. Both Rovers are outfitted with BAE Systems BAE Systems British manufacturer of aircraft, missiles, avionics, naval vessels, and other aerospace and defense products. BAE Systems was formed (1999) from the merger of British Aerospace (BAe) with Marconi Electronic Systems. radiation-hardened RAD6000 computers. The RAD6000 processed key navigational data during each spacecraft's six-month journey. "We are proud to be part of the 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. (JPL (language) JPL - JAM Programming Language. ) Rover program," said Vic Scuderi, manager, space products, BAE Systems Information and 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 ) unit. "This has been a tremendous team effort and we are honored that JPL selected the RAD6000 as their single spacecraft computer on-board the Rovers." The Rovers are designed to study minerals in rocks. They will travel up to 132 feet each day and operate at temperatures as low as minus100 degrees Celsius at night. The RAD6000 is a 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 and is based on the IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) PowerPC architecture. The RAD6000 is one of a family of radiation-hardened protected computers developed and produced by BAE Systems with the support of NASA's JPL and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. Since 1995, IEWS' facility in Manassas, Virginia, has delivered more than 300 radiation-hardened computers that have been launched and are operating in space. The RAD6000 was also the single control and data computer used on the successful Pathfinder mission, which landed on Mars in 1997. 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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