On November 30th, 2011, EMCORE Corp. (Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.) announced that it has delivered solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft, which was successfully launched on November 26th, 2011.

EMCORE had a contract with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Center in Pasadena, California, to deliver the solar panels, which will power the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft during its cruise stage to Mars.

The spacecraft is designed to carry the MSL rover "Curiosity" and communicate with the entry vehicle that will carry the rover to the surface of the planet. The solar panels were designed and manufactured by EMCORE's Photovoltaic Division, located in Albuquerque, NM.

"EMCORE has previously delivered, or is in the process of delivering, solar panels for several other NASA missions including the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) to the International Space Station, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and the Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS) missions," EMCORE COO Christopher Larocca said in a statement.

2011-12-04| Courtesy: EMCORE Corp. | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

Our editorial selection of breaking solar news is published at:
www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/top-solar-news.html