Smiths Specialty Engineering selected to provide technology for NASA mission

SMITHS Specialty Engineering, part of the global technology company Smiths Group, today announces that one of its businesses has been selected by NASA to provide technology on its Aquarius satellite mission, which is due to be launched in 2009.

Aquarius is a satellite mission to measure global Sea Surface Salinity (SSS), which is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water.  Scientific progress is limited because conventional in-situ SSS sampling is too sparse to give the global view of salinity variability that only a satellite can provide.  Aquarius will resolve missing physical processes that link the water cycle, the climate, and the ocean. 

EMC Technology has been selected to provide the high reliability attenuators for the Aquarius programme.  Attenuators limit the amount of power allowed to pass through a micro circuit.  The payload will be delivered on time to maintain the advised launch schedule sequence.

Joe Jenkins, a NASA engineer on the Aquarius programme, said:  “EMC’s personnel were very helpful in accommodating our aggressive schedule while not compromising quality.”

Smiths has technology on a number of space exploration vehicles, including Galileo and the Deep Space Probe.  NASA recently selected Smiths technology for use on its Mars Rover explorer, which is also due to be launched in 2009. 

ENDS

EMC Technology
EMC Technology is a Smiths Interconnect business. Smiths Interconnect is part of the global technology business Smiths Group. EMC Technology provides custom-engineered solutions and a full line of surface mount terminations, attenuators, equalizers and other passive resistive components.  EMC Technology developed the ThermopadÒ temperature compensating attenuator, a passive component solution to temperature compensation problems, and the Smart LoadÒ temperature compensated true RMS power sensing termination.  These products are protected by two of the 27 U.S. patents awarded to EMC.  Since its founding in 1963, EMC Technology has established itself as the technology leader in supplying engineering-based solutions in RF and microwave passive components. Our website, www.emct.com contains additional information about lot screening, environmental testing, and a full test flow plan and description of all of our high reliability military and space approved products.