Wind River Powers NASA's Space Exploration -- Mars Rovers Lands Safely, Stardust Spacecraft Completes its Journey to the Comet.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2004 Wind River Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:WIND) Synopsis: -- For years, Wind River has provided reliable technology to NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. Jet Propulsion jet propulsion, propulsion of a body by a force developed in reaction to the ejection of a high-speed jet of gas. Jet Propulsion Engines The four basic parts of a jet engine are the compressor, turbine, combustion chamber, and propelling nozzles. Lab (JPL (language) JPL - JAM Programming Language. ) for space exploration in the Mars Exploration Rover program and the Stardust star·dust n. 1. A dreamlike, romantic, or uncritical sense of well-being. 2. A cluster of stars too distant to be seen individually, resembling a dimly luminous cloud of dust. Not in scientific use. 3. Project, among others. -- Stardust is the first U.S. space mission dedicated solely to the exploration of a comet, and the first robotic mission designed to return extraterrestrial material from outside the orbit of the Moon The orbit of the Moon around the Earth is completed in approximately 27.3 days. The Earth and Moon orbit about their common center of mass, which lies about 4,700 kilometres from Earth's center (about three quarters of the Earth's radius). . Wind River Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:WIND), the worldwide market leader in embedded software Instructions that permanently reside in a ROM or flash memory chip. Embedded software may be immediately available to the CPU or, for faster execution, may be transferred to RAM first and then executed. and services, today announced that the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, powered by Wind River technology, successfully landed on Mars at approximately 8:35 p.m. PT, January 3, 2004. Spirit is one of two twin robot geologists running on Wind River's industry leading real-time operating system (operating system) Real-Time Operating System - (RTOS) Any operating system where interrupts are guaranteed to be handled within a certain specified maximum time, thereby making it suitable for control of hardware in embedded systems and other time-critical applications. (RTOS (1) (RealTime Operating System) An operating system designed for use in a real time computer system. See real time system, embedded system, process control and OS-9. ), VxWorks. The second twin, Opportunity, is scheduled to land on Mars on January 24, 2004. Once on Mars, Spirit will leverage Wind River's reliable technology to perform complex, mission-critical tasks, such as trajectory, descent and ground operations control, data collection and Mars-to-Earth communication relay. In addition to powering the Mars Rovers, Wind River's technology also operates within NASA JPL's Stardust spacecraft. Stardust is the first United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. space mission dedicated solely to the exploration of a comet, named Wild 2, and the first robotic mission designed to return extraterrestrial material from outside the orbit of the Moon. Today, Stardust will complete its four-year journey from Earth, arriving within 100 kilometers of the speeding nucleus of Wild 2 to collect dust samples from the comet's tail in order to help answer fundamental questions regarding the origins of the solar system. Wind River's VxWorks(R) real-time operating system (RTOS) is responsible for Stardust's flight trajectory and path, the collection of interstellar in·ter·stel·lar adj. Between or among the stars: interstellar gases. interstellar Adjective between or among stars Adj. 1. dust and cometary material, the journey back to Earth, and the safe landing of the return capsule. "Successful missions don't just happen; they are the result of the hard work, dedication and technology of many different organizations," said Jerry Fiddler, co-founder for Wind River. "For more than two decades, Wind River has had the honor to work with the inspirational people of NASA's JPL and we are continuously impressed by their space exploration projects such as the Mars Exploration Rovers and Stardust," said Jerry Fiddler of Wind River Systems. "As the founder of Wind River, I am personally proud that our reliable, secure real-time operating system has served as a key foundational technology for many aerospace organizations that shape the future of space exploration." Since its inception in 1981, Wind River has been a trusted advisor in the development of aerospace and defense products. The company's reliable technology has successfully powered countless products in the reaches of our universe, including NASA's space "lifeboat," NASA's Deep Space One satellite, and the European Space Agency's PROBA PROBA Project for On-Board Autonomy (technology demonstration missions of the European Space Agency) satellite, among others. The Mars Exploration Rovers and the Stardust missions are part of the NASA 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. , NASA's lead center for robotic exploration of the solar system, which is managed by the California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. in Pasadena, Calif. To learn more about Mars Exploration Rovers, go to http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html. To learn more about Stardust, go to http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/. To learn more about Wind River's work in Aerospace and Defense, go to http://www.windriver.com/markets/aerospace/. About Wind River Wind River is the worldwide leader in embedded software and services. It provides market-specific embedded platforms that integrate real-time operating systems, development tools and technologies. Wind River's products and professional services are used in multiple markets including aerospace and defense, automotive, digital consumer, industrial, and network infrastructure. Wind River provides high-integrity technology and expertise that enables its customers to create superior products more efficiently. Companies from around the world turn to Wind River to create the most reliable products and to accelerate their time to market. Founded in 1981, Wind River is headquartered in Alameda, Calif., with operations worldwide. To learn more, visit Wind River at http://www.windriver.com or call Wind River at 800-872-4977. Wind River Systems and the Wind River Systems logo are trademarks of Wind River Systems, Inc., and VxWorks is a registered trademark of Wind River Systems, Inc. All other names mentioned are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective companies. |
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