Rockwell Collins provides lenses for Deep Impact mission
Cedar Rapids, IA (October 31, 2005) - Rockwell Collins’ precision 38-millimeter lens assemblies played an essential role in NASA’s Deep Impact mission that is aimed
at unlocking secrets to the formation of the solar system.
On July 3, the mission’s “impactor” spacecraft crashed into the Tempel 1 comet. The accompanying “flyby” spacecraft recorded
the event. Rockwell Collins’ lens assemblies were used on the Ball CT-633 Star Trackers that guided both spacecraft. The lenses
also helped record the event.
The flyby spacecraft is still operational pending a new mission and is being navigated toward Earth.
The goal of the Deep Impact mission is to provide a glimpse beneath the surface of a comet, where material from the solar
system’s formation remains relatively unchanged. Mission scientists expect the project to answer basic questions about the
formation of the solar system by examining the frozen material that was ejected when the 500-kilogram impactor spacecraft
collided with the Tempel 1 comet.
“The success of the Deep Impact star trackers highlights a long-standing relationship between Rockwell Collins and Ball Aerospace
& Technologies,” said Jerry Carollo, general manager of Optronics for Rockwell Collins. “This groundbreaking mission is another
in a long line of space missions that Rockwell Collins has played a part in. That heritage includes providing the communications
equipment that broadcast Neil Armstrong’s famous first words from the surface of the moon.”
Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) is a worldwide leader in the design, production, and support of communication and aviation electronics
for commercial and government customers. The company’s 17,000 employees in 27 countries deliver industry-leading communication,
navigation, surveillance, display, flight control, in-flight entertainment, information management, and maintenance, training
and simulation solutions. Additional information is available at www.rockwellcollins.com.
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