Actel played a significant role in the recent Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Shoemaker mission on 12 February, providing programmable logic that enabled mission managers to navigate the spacecraft to the surface of asteroid Eros and collect scientific data from the asteroid surface and surrounding environment. Actel says that its high-reliability field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) were a part of the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft, and played an important role in the command, telemetry and scientific data collection aspects of the mission. The successful touchdown of the spacecraft on asteroid Eros, even though it was not designed as a lander, makes the contributions of Actel's FPGA devices more significant, it said.
"Actel continues to be a key player in the technology behind major breakthroughs occurring in space and we plan to continue to push forward with our involvement in and development of high-reliability programmable logic technology," said Sunil Baliga, Vice President, Product Marketing at Actel. "Actel was proud to participate in the success of the Mars Pathfinder Mission of 1997 and we are again thrilled to play an integral part in another historic spacecraft landing, the NEAR Shoemaker."
Actel's radiation-tolerant RTSX-S devices were specifically developed for space applications. These devices include critical benefits such as immunity to single event upset (SEU) well above 37 MeV-cm2/mg, immunity to single event latchup (SEL), and performance capability of up to 100 Krads total ionising dose (TID). The RTSX-S devices also provide increased speed performance, mixed voltage support and the flexibility and effectiveness required by applications in harsh operating environments, according to the manufacturer.
Electronic News Digest
News
A brief synopsis of current global news relating to the electronic engineering fields with regards to company finances, general company news, and engineering technologies.
Read more...Jemstech to produce PCB assemblies for Kamstrup Jemstech
News
Jemstech is pleased to announce that they have successfully concluded a supplier agreement with Kamstrup A/S in Denmark, a leading supplier of intelligent metering solutions in the global market.
Read more...New appointments at Hiconnex Hiconnex
News
Hiconnex, a leading provider of electronic components and solutions, has announced key appointments to support its continued growth and commitments to its clients.
Read more...MPLAB PICkit Basic ASIC Design Services
Design Automation
To make its robust programming and debugging capabilities accessible to a wider range of engineers, Microchip Technology has launched the MPLAB PICkit Basic in-circuit debugger.
Read more...Case Study: Siemens Valor automation solution ASIC Design Services
Editor's Choice Manufacturing / Production Technology, Hardware & Services
Electronics manufacturer BMK used Siemens Valor to enhance accuracy and speed up bill-of-materials quotations.
Read more...FoundriesFactory service more affordable for smaller OEMs
News
Foundries.io has announced a new, tiered pricing scheme which reduces the cost of its highly regarded FoundriesFactory service for OEMs in the development phase of a new edge AI or Linux OS-based product.
Read more...DMASS 2024 results
News
The semiconductor business faced a severe downturn, with a 31,9% decrease compared to 2023 and a 30,3% drop in Q4 2024 compared to the same period last year.
Read more...Using satellite comms to end copper theft
News
According to Transnet COO Solly Letsoalo, the scourge of copper theft could be a thing of the past by eliminating the use of copper cabling and switching to a satellite communication system.
Read more...Strategic merger: Etion Create and Nanoteq Etion Create
News
Reunert has announced the successful merger of two business units within the Applied Electronics Segment, namely Etion Create and Nanoteq, effective 1 October 2024.
Read more...Securex South Africa 2025 Specialised Exhibitions
News
Securex South Africa 2025 is co-located with A-OSH EXPO, Facilities Management Expo, and Firexpo to provide a time-saver for visitors looking for holistic solutions for their facilities.