Redwire Technology Provides Critical Navigation for NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission

August 24, 2020

Redwire Technology Provides Critical Navigation for NASA’s Mars 2020 Mission

Digital Sun Sensors Provide Sun Angle Data, Plus Precise Positioning and Trajectory for Re-entry on Mars

Adcole Space, a Redwire company, is a strategic sun sensor solution provider for the Mars 2020 Mission, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, FL on July 30, 2020. Adcole Space partnered with NASA Science Mission Directorate (Washington, D.C.) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of Caltech (Pasadena, CA) to provide Digital Sun Sensors for the Mars 2020 mission.

Adcole Space Digital Sun Sensors provide critical positioning and trajectory data for the mission until about 12 minutes before re-entry on Mars. Image credit: NASA JPL

The company has provided 2 complete Digital Sun Sensor Systems, consisting of 8 Digital Sun Sensor Heads and two Processing Electronics units. The Digital Sun Sensors provide the sun angle data to the space vehicle from the earth, from launch all the way to arrival at planet Mars. In addition, the Digital Sun Sensors provide precise positioning and trajectory data during the re-entry phase into the atmosphere on Mars.

The Adcole Space Digital Sun Sensors operate during the interplanetary cruise phase of the mission, providing critical positioning and trajectory data for the mission until about 12 minutes before re-entry on Mars.To learn more about the MARS 2020 mission, visit: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/