Flight Qualified Projects Aerospace Industry

Below you will find press releases and case studies published by FUTEK on our involvement with specific flight qualified aerospace missions. For more information on any of the topics below, please feel free to contact us at: futek@futek.com.

Flight Qualified Testing News and Case Studies
Designed For	Project
NASA	Mars Rover	One Star-Spangled Mohawk for Mankind IRVINE, Calif. – It’s here. August 6th – the date that animated every space science Ph.D. into giddy teenagers. Glued to YouTube, our eyes ﬁxated for “seven minutes of terror,” we waited. And then, with two words, every conﬁdence in NASA was restored. The Mars Rover Curiosity landed. Read More Mars Rover Collects First Drill Sample Irvine, CALIF. - FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc. is beyond ecstatic with the latest news regarding the Mars Rover Curiosity. The success of this first ever inter-planetary sample collection not only made history for NASA and the U.S. space program, but also for FUTEK as two of their test and measurement products were integral during this drilling mission. Read More Curiosity: A Great Achievement For FUTEK On August 6, 2012, history was made and dreams were achieved as NASA JPL’s MSL Mars Rover Curiosity set down upon the Martian soil. This touchdown not only marked a rebirth for the NASA program, but an enormous accomplishment for all partners involved with this mission. Landing Curiosity was by no means an easy feat. Read More
Raytheon	VIIRS	Hurricane Sandy VIIRS Satellite Images IRVINE, Calif. – FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc. was commissioned by Raytheon to design and develop two cryogenic load cells to operate aboard the satellite producing aerial images of Hurricane Sandy. Read More NASA’s Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite The Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is one of ﬁve instruments NASA will use on the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environment Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP). VIIRS will be responsible for new advances in weather and environmental monitoring. Read More
NASA	ORION	NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Like all shuttles returning to the Earth’s surface, a parachute is needed to ease its entry speed. FUTEK designed custom dual-axis clevis pin load cells and load washer load cells for the re-entry and in-mission abort simulations. The precision of these particular load cells was critical, as was their endurance. Read More
NASA	iLIDS	NASA International Low Impact Docking System The program known as the International Low Impact Docking System (iLIDS) will require several quad-bridge tension and compression miniature load cells to detect, guide, and dock incoming space vehicles. These space grade sensors must follow speciﬁc space and ﬂight standards, ensuring their conformity with various forms of spacecraft. Read More
NASA	SHERE	NASA’s Shear History Extension Rheology Experiment Alongside NASA and MIT, FUTEK participated in the jointed venture to help create the Shear History Extensional Rheology Experiment (SHERE). This program was designed to examine the stress and strain of polymer ﬂuid in microgravity. FUTEK developed a 10 KiloDyne load cell to measure these ﬂuid viscosity forces upon the International Space Station. Read More