FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology Celebrates Curiosity Rover's 14-Year Mars Anniversary
FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc. congratulates the NASA Curiosity team on the historic milestone of the rover’s 14th year exploring the Martian surface. The rover continues to transmit invaluable scientific data from the Red Planet. The two FUTEK sensors aboard the Curiosity have proven even more critical than their original mission anticipated. When the rover’s drill mechanism failed in 2016, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) reconfigured the FUTEK sensors to stabilize the drilling process, enabling the resumption of core sample collection and analysis.
Curiosity has detected more than 20 organic compounds on Mars, including seven previously unidentified on the planet, some with structures linked to DNA precursors. “These findings are important because they confirm that larger complex organic matter is preserved on Mars over geologic time periods, despite the harsh radiation environment,” said lead researcher Dr. Amy Williams, associate professor of geological sciences at the University of Florida and a scientist on the Curiosity mission. “This supports the search for habitable environments on Mars, which is defined as a place where life would have wanted to live if it was present.”
Beyond the Curiosity mission, FUTEK’s sensors have contributed to a range of space exploration endeavors such as the International Space Station and various satellite initiatives. In addition to space applications, FUTEK is widely recognized in the MedTech industry for its role in robotic surgery platforms and medical instrumentation. The company’s latest products continue to push the frontier of micro-miniature sensors and hermetically sealed, autoclavable sensors for medical industry applications.
About FUTEK
FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology designs and manufactures high-precision load cells, torque sensors, pressure sensors, multi-axis sensors, and signal-conditioning instruments for aerospace, medical, automotive, and industrial automation applications.
More information, visit www.futek.com
Media Contact
FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc.
19 Morgan, Irvine, CA 92618 USA • futek@futek.com • +1-949-465-0900 • www.futek.com.
