Monday, February 13, 2012

Spectra Systems sends tech on Mars mission

By Patricia Resende, Correspondent

NASA tapped Providence, R.I.-based Spectra Systems Corp. to use its materials with the agency’s high performance cameras on a rover that has been sent to our nearest planetary neighbor.

The company’s same ink, particles and coatings products which are used in banknote security features in many central banks throughout the world to deter counterfeiting will be used on NASA’s Curiosity rover during its two-year investigative mission on Mars’ Gale Crater beginning in March, the company reported.

The mission, launched in November 2011, is part of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory program.

An instrument on the rover, known as Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), will be equipped with Spectra Systems materials and will enable NASA to check that its UV LEDs will be fully operational in the cold and dry environment, NASA Principal Investigator Ken Edgett said in a company release. The mission will be to investigate whether the area is a good location for microbial life.

“The MAHLI team chose our materials because of the performance which all of our products are required to have in order to protect the world’s banknotes from sophisticated counterfeiters year after year,” Spectra President Nabil Lawandy said in the release. “Banknote security features have to survive in harsh environments from exposure to the sun to laundry when accidentally left in your jeans pocket.”