SCOTTSDALE, AZ, July 24, 1997 - Inter-Tech's DATAMOBILE ® rugged drives are used as the primary storage media for the Landing Radar test in the MARS SURVEYOR '98 PROGRAM, sequel to PATHFINDER.
Lockheed Martin Astronautics selected Inter-Tech's DATAMOBILE ® for its rugged design and reliability to store critical data during the helicopter and airborne test drop phases of the Mars Landing Radar. The whole test phase of this key mission component depended on the survival of the disk drive and the integrity of its data recorded during the airborne drop from 11,500 feet.
"To tell the truth, I was reluctant to participate in this potentially lethal test drop," says Dick Roemer, CEO of Inter-Tech Corp. "But we've taken on impossible tasks before for defense and aerospace projects and with certain controls in place, I felt our DATAMOBILE ® drive would successfully protect the mission-critical data."
The MARS SURVEYOR PROGRAM (MSP) Landing Radar and computer electronics were housed in a cylindrical shell which was catapulted from the aircraft at 11,500 feet. After dropping several thousand feet the main parachute opened to slow the descent. The vehicle hit the ground hard at about 13 mph. Although the onboard computer failed to operate after impact, the DATAMOBILE ® drive survived intact and when inserted in the lab computer, the test data was successfully extracted and analyzed. "The radar drop test was a complete success," according to John Cuseo, lead Engineer for Lockheed Martin's radar test program.
Placing a value on data can be tricky, but as this case illustrates, the success of the whole mission and the substantial engineering and dollar investment in it depended on the successful survival of the DATAMOBILE ® drive and its recorded data. "We are happy to make our contribution to the success of the MARS SURVEYOR PROGRAM", Roemer adds.
Privately-owned Inter-Tech Corporation has produced its DATAMOBILE ® ruggedized and removable hard drives for defense, aerospace and industrial applications for almost 10 years. The high-capacity data storage media are designed for high shock tolerance, vibration and temperature extremes in various harsh environments as well as data security applications. See Inter-Tech Corp's web site at http://www.datamobile.com/
Contact: Marketing Manager, Inter-Tech Corp, Tel: 480 945 0085 Fax: 480 945 3080 Email: rugged@datamobile.com.
Photos and a short video clip of the drop are available on request.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Your comments are welcome. Please email us at: itc@datamobile.com
Investor Relations
BACK TO HOME PAGE 
