Mars Is Picture Perfect Thanks to Atmel's High Definition Graphics Chips
Monday March 1, 8:00 am ET
CCD Linear Arrays Contribute to Observation of Red Planet
GRENOBLE, France, March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML - News) is proud to announce its contribution to the Mars Express mission's success. The satellite, presently in Mars' orbit, has, among several other missions, the task of performing the planet's mapping. This part of the mission is executed by 9 of Atmel's TH7808 CCD linear arrays integrated into the High Resolution Stereo Camera based on a pushbroom scanning method developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). These arrays feature 5184 pixels with a 13 um pitch, extended dynamic range and low noise threshold. The TH7808 provide a ground resolution of 10 meters with a 2-meter resolution zoom capacity, enabling picture perfect images that are of major interest to the scientific community.
During a 25-year involvement in space imaging projects, Atmel has developed many linear and multi-linear arrays, Time Delay Integration (TDI) CCDs and multi-TDIs for high resolution observation of the Earth and other planets, in either panchromatic or multi-spectral wavelength ranges. The company has also developed rad-tolerant area arrays for star sensors and contributed to many scientific missions by up-screening image sensors from its standard product list.
"It is thanks to our reputation established in previous earth observation projects, notably during our cooperation with the CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales -- the French space agency), on the European Earth Observation Satellite (SPOT series), as well as the availability of a high- resolution linear array, that Atmel's CCDs were selected for the Mars Express mission" says Jean-Philippe Lamarcq, Professional Imaging Director.
Atmel will continue to serve space-related projects by offering image sensors with state-of-the-art performance, high reliability and long-term availability, in close co-operation with the company's worldwide customers. |
