By John Keller
GREENBELT, Md. - Scientists from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) needed optoelectronic components for a laser instrument to fly in 2008 on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)-the first spacecraft to be built as part of the Vision for Space Exploration.
They found their solution from Space Power Electronics Inc. in Kathleen, Ga.
Space Power Electronics will provide power converter assembly electronic boards and laser electronic assembly electronic boards for the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) measurement investigation that will be aboard the LRO.
LOLA will determine the global topography of the moon’s surface at high resolution, measure landing site slopes, and search for polar ice in shadowed regions.
Officials from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., say they will issue a request for quotation (number NNG0525117Q), to buy these goods and services from Space Power Electronics because that company is the only source for the equipment.
The LRO mission will deliver an orbiter to the moon to obtain measurements necessary to characterize future robotic and human landing sites. It also will identify potential lunar resources and document aspects of lunar radiation.
The LOLA instrument design has many similarities to the previously flown Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) instrument, NASA officials say. Space Power Electronics designed and built the power converter assembly and laser electronic assembly for the MLA instrument, and is the only known supplier that can meet the development time of the LOLA instrument, officials say.
For more information contact Space Power Electronics by phone at 478-988-3727, or NASA contract specialist Cassandra Atkinson by phone at 301-286-8086 or by e-mail at [email protected].
