Some info on Mars lander imaging devices

This is from Dalsa's website:

DALSA-built CCD Chips Deliver Stunning Imagery Of Martian Landscape
Posted 1/6/2004


DALSA-built sensors captured the highest-resolution
images ever taken of another planet
Waterloo, Ontario, January 6, 2004 – Three days after successfully
landing on Mars, the Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit" has successfully
begun transmitting high resolution colour images of the "red" planet.
The CCD image sensor chips, designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, were manufactured at DALSA's
semiconductor wafer production facility in Bromont, Quebec.

The space-qualified chips are critical components in the nine
electronic cameras aboard each of the two Rovers. "Spirit" landed on
Saturday, January 3rd, and "Opportunity," its twin, is expected to
land on the other side of the planet in three weeks. Three cameras on
each Rover are responsible for scientific investigation, including
panoramic and stereoscopic images. Six other cameras aid in navigating
the vehicle on the surface of Mars. The cameras will serve as the
vehicle's "electronic eyes", as it examines its landing site for
geological evidence of past liquid water activity and past
environmental conditions hospitable to life.


DALSA-built sensors on the "camera bar"
of each rover provide high-quality
images for analysis and navigation
Spirit's high resolution "Pancam", which employs the
DALSA-manufactured chips, is the most sophisticated color imaging
system ever sent to the surface of another planet and is responsible
for the colour images Spirit has transmitted to earth. The stereo pair
of CCD cameras is located on a "camera bar" that sits on top of the
mast of the Rover and is responsible for taking high resolution views
of the surface and sky through eight different coloured filters.
Pancam's mast assembly allows it to rotate a complete 360° while the
camera bar itself can swing up or down through 180° of elevation. This
allows the cameras to generate stunning panoramic image mosaics as
large as 4,000 pixels high by 24,000 pixels around, equivalent to a 96
megapixel image.

"We're extremely proud of the contribution our employees at Bromont
have made to this landmark achievement in space exploration,"
commented Savvas Chamberlain, CEO of DALSA Corporation. "We have a
good working history with NASA/JPL and we're thrilled that we can once
again play a role in such an important project."

The Mars Exploration Rover is the second high profile space related
project DALSA has been involved in the past several years. Engineers
in Waterloo supplied the space-qualified CCD camera electronics for
the Canadarm2 robotic arm that was installed at the International
Space Station in April 2001.

About DALSA Corporation
DALSA is an international high performance semiconductor and
electronics company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets
digital imaging products and solutions, in addition to providing wafer
foundry services. DALSA's core competencies are in specialized
integrated circuit and electronics technology, and highly engineered
semiconductor wafer processing. Products include image sensor
components; electronic digital cameras; and semiconductor wafer
foundry services for use in MEMS, power semiconductors, image sensors
and mixed-signal CMOS chips.

DALSA is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under
the symbol "DSA". Based in Waterloo, ON. Canada, the company has
operations in Bromont, PQ; Colorado Springs, CO; Tucson, AZ;
Eindhoven, NL; Munich, Germany and Tokyo, Japan.

For more information, please contact
Patrick Myles
Director, Corporate Communications
DALSA Corporation
519-886-6001 ext. 2177
519-886-3972 (fax)
E-mail:
Internet: www.dalsa.com

NASA Mars Rover Related Links

NASA Mars Rover Mission: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/

Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Rover Newspage:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov