BAE Systems’ hardware lands on Mars aboard Curiosity Rover

7 Jul 20122012-07-07T01:00:00+02:00

Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory powered by two BAE Systems RAD750® processors, landed on the Red Planet early this morning for its two-year mission.

The rolling lab is equipped with an X-ray spectrometer, a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy system, organic sample analysis systems, and radiation and neutrino detection systems. Curiosity will analyze samples drilled from rocks or scooped from the ground to determine if conditions are favorable for microbial life and to observe clues in the rocks about possible past life.

Since 1995, BAE Systems’ facility in Manassas, Va. has delivered more than 600 radiation-hardened computers that are currently operating in space on more than 200 satellites, included in each of the NASA rovers over the past 15 years.