Crane Aerospace & Electronics has recently been awarded a multi-million dollar contract to supply power converters for the Mars 2020 mission. The contract was awarded by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. According to Ed Fuhr, vice president of Power Solutions, “We are very pleased with this contract selection and proud of our proven heritage on previous Mars missions.”
JPL will use a variety of space dc to dc converters and filters including the popular SMRT product, which features a built-in EMI filter, independent outputs and the ability to adjust the output voltage. Other models to be used include SLH, SMSA, SMHF, SMTR and SMFL as well as three different EMI filter models. The previous Mars rovers Opportunity, Spirit and Curiosity, have all used Interpoint space qualified dc-dc converters. Interpoint converters are available with a variety of screening options up to MIL-PRF-38534 Class K and a variety of radiation hardness assurance (RHA) options up to RHA R, 100 krad(Si) at both high and low dose rates.
JPL manages the Mars 2020 Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA. The 2020 mission will build on the achievements of Curiosity and other Mars missions, and offer opportunities to deploy new capabilities developed through investments by NASA's Space Technology Program, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and contributions from international partners.