HOLLYWOOD, Fla. & MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HEICO Corporation (NYSE: HEI.A) (NYSE: HEI) today congratulated NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and their partners on the successful Mars Perseverance Rover Landing yesterday, February 18, 2021. Once again, NASA and JPL demonstrated remarkable talent and capabilities despite a year of great challenges for the world’s population and they remain a beacon of optimism for all people.
In addition, HEICO provided details about the mission-critical flight hardware which four different HEICO subsidiaries supplied for the mission. The HEICO subsidiaries supplying mission-critical flight hardware are: Apex Microtechnology, Sierra Microwave Technology, 3D PLUS and VPT, Inc., all of which are part of HEICO’s Electronic Technologies Group.
Tucson, AZ-based Apex Microtechnology supplied its proprietary 10 Ampere, 90 Volt Power Amplifiers for Perseverance’s Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (nicknamed the “SHERLOC”). The SHERLOC is mounted on the rover's robotic arm and it uses cameras, spectrometers, and a laser to search for organics and minerals that have been altered by watery environments and may be signs of past microbial life.
Georgetown, TX-based Sierra Microwave produced microwave hardware utilized in the X band communication system on the spacecraft that was jettisoned just prior to the lander setting down on the surface of Mars. Sierra provided these same components on the Mars Curiosity mission, which landed in 2012.
Buc, France-based 3D PLUS supplied numerous highly reliable components, such as volatile and non-volatile memory modules (SRAM, SDRAM, NAND Flash, NOR Flash and DDR2), Latch up Current Limiters, Interfaces, as well as their unique CMOS space qualified camera head. Embedded in multiple Perseverance instruments on the rover itself, 3D PLUS’ products offer high reliability, radiation tolerance and weight savings resulting from their unique stacking technology that allows a high level of miniaturization.
The unique 3D PLUS space qualified CMOS camera head is embedded inside the SuperCam instrument. It is used as a Micro-Imager, assisting in the selection and targeting of the rocks to be analyzed by the Raman Spectrometer. The result of an R&D project supported by CNES, the French Space Agency, this camera module integrates all the electronic functions of a complete imaging system including memories, processor, power supply and a 4 Mpx high resolution CMOS sensor providing color images. With a design based on the 3D stacking technology, this camera module features an ultra-compact packaging (35 x 35 x 23 mm, 64 g).
Blacksburg, VA-based VPT, Inc. supplied several products built into the mission, including several SVR Series isolated DC-DC converters, point-of-load DC-DC converters, and EMI filters that help power Perseverance’s camera system and onboard processing system.
Specifically designed for applications facing the harsh radiation environments of space, the SVR Series of DC-DC converters has been characterized to Total Ionizing Dose (TID) of 100 krad(Si), including Enhanced Low Dose Rate Sensitivity (ELDRS), and Single Event Effects (SEE) performance to 85 MeV/mg/cm2. Performance is guaranteed through the use of hardened semiconductor components, radiation lot acceptance testing (RLAT) of non-hardened components, and analysis.
Launched in July 2020, NASA’s Mars 2020 mission made its final descent to the Red Planet and successfully landed on Jezero Crater on February 18th. Perseverance used a guided entry, descent and landing system, already demonstrated for Curiosity rover. For this critical step of the mission, NASA added new entry, descent and landing technologies, such as Terrain-Relative Navigation (TRN), a system allowing the rover to detect and avoid hazardous terrain by diverting around it during its descent through the Martian atmosphere.
Perseverance will spend at least one Mars year (two Earth years) exploring the landing site region. The rover will seek signs of ancient microbial life and collect rocks and soil samples for possible return to Earth. This is also the opportunity for NASA to pave the way for future human exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.
Laurans A. Mendelson, HEICO’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Victor H. Mendelson, HEICO’s Co-President and CEO of the Company’s Electronic Technologies Group, commented, “Once again, we are brimming with pride that HEICO businesses and Team Members provided mission-critical and high-reliability space flight hardware on such a significant mission. We congratulate all of the HEICO Team Members involved in these activities, as we marvel at the amazing missions undertaken by NASA, JPL and their partners.”
HEICO Corporation is engaged primarily in the design, production, servicing and distribution of products and services to certain niche segments of the aviation, defense, space, medical, telecommunications and electronics industries through its Hollywood, Florida-based Flight Support Group and its Miami, Florida-based Electronic Technologies Group. HEICO's customers include a majority of the world's airlines and overhaul shops, as well as numerous defense and space contractors and military agencies worldwide, in addition to medical, telecommunications and electronics equipment manufacturers. For more information about HEICO, please visit our website at http://www.heico.com.