HILLSBORO, Ore. & RICHARDSON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TQNT), a leading RF solutions supplier and technology innovator, reflected on its role in helping land NASA’s Curiosity rover safely on Mars as program managers say the mission is reaching an important turning point. TriQuint has supported NASA programs for decades, including devices aboard the Sky Crane landing radar of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and its Curiosity rover.
The MSL captured worldwide attention on August 6, 2012 when its Sky Crane traveled the now-famous ‘seven minutes of terror’ to lower Curiosity safely to the Martian surface. NASA accomplished its feat with a pre-programmed landing sequence that was vital since the communication time delay between the planets meant Curiosity’s final descent could not be piloted from Earth. TriQuint delivered four Sky Crane landing radar components that helped make a safe touchdown possible. The Sky Crane’s success culminated four year’s work by TriQuint engineers who consulted with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Soon after landing, Curiosity confirmed that the Gale Crater site had once been capable of supporting microbial life. Since then it has found an ancient stream bed and allowed scientists to determine that the Martian radiation environment is similar to what astronauts experience aboard the International Space Station. The rover collected rock samples containing sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon, leading scientists to believe Mars could have supported microbial life billions of years ago. The MSL is now nearly half way through its planned 23-month mission.
TriQuint high performance pHEMT products in the MSL’s landing radar included the TGL4203-SM attenuator, TGA4517 Ka-band RF power amplifier and the TGC1430G frequency tripler, all fabricated using TriQuint’s 0.25-micron technology, and the TGA4508, a Ka-band low-noise amplifier that utilized a 0.15-micron TriQuint process. Before assembly into the MSL, TriQuint devices endured an arduous space qualification screening process which far exceeds requirements of typical commercial or defense programs.
“The Mars Science Laboratory is not the first NASA mission for our technology, but it’s surely one of the most exciting for the design team and all of us at TriQuint,” said James Klein, Vice President and General Manager of Infrastructure and Defense Products. “When the customer is NASA, the location is Mars, and the end user is a precedent-setting, history-making spacecraft, the word ‘exciting’ takes on a whole new meaning.”
TriQuint’s portfolio of space-qualified products demonstrates a continuing commitment to reaching further, turning advanced research and development into high performance products that add real value for customers.
For more information about TriQuint’s space products and the latest solutions for terrestrial RF applications, visit our space webpage on www.triquint.com, or go to www.triquint.com/sales for local assistance. Visit us at www.triquint.com/defense, or register to receive product updates and TriQuint’s newsletter.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TQNT) press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. The cautionary statements made in this press release should be read as being applicable to all related statements wherever they appear. Statements containing such words as ‘leading’, ‘exceptional’, ‘high efficiency’, ‘key role’, ‘leading supplier’, or similar terms are considered to contain uncertainty and are forward-looking statements. A number of factors affect TriQuint’s operating results and could cause its actual future results to differ materially from any results indicated in this press release or in any other forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, TriQuint including, but not limited to: those associated with the unpredictability and volatility of customer acceptance of and demand for our products and technologies, the ability of our production facilities and those of our vendors to meet demand, the ability of our production facilities and those of our vendors to produce products with yields sufficient to maintain profitability, as well as the other “Risk Factors” set forth in TriQuint’s most recent 10-Q report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This and other reports can be found on the SEC web site, www.sec.gov. A reader of this release should understand that these and other risks could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations expressed / implied in forward-looking statements.
FACTS ABOUT TRIQUINT
Founded in 1985, TriQuint Semiconductor (NASDAQ: TQNT) is a leading global provider of innovative RF solutions and foundry services for the world’s top communications, defense and aerospace companies. People and organizations around the world need real-time, all-the-time connections; TriQuint products help reduce the cost and increase the performance of connected mobile devices and the networks that deliver critical voice, data and video communications. With the industry’s broadest technology portfolio, recognized R&D leadership, and expertise in high-volume manufacturing, TriQuint creates standard and custom products using gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technologies. The company has ISO9001-certified manufacturing facilities in the U.S., production in Costa Rica, and design centers in North America and Germany. For more information, visit www.triquint.com.
TriQuint: Reach Further, Reach Faster™
