Employees from Sensors Unlimited were able to view images of a NASA rocket crashing into the dark side of the moon yesterday, through short-wave infrared (SWIR) cameras they have designed and built.
The employees design and build the short-wave infrared (SWIR) cameras based on indium gallium arsenide (INGAAS) imaging technology.
The cameras will image and analyse the cloud of post-crash debris.
The images could prove the presence of water on the moon, a key to future space exploration and understanding of the solar system.
The lunar crash is part of NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission to search for water on the moon.
A 'shepherding spacecraft' carrying a cadre of sophisticated instruments, including two INGAAS-SWIR cameras, will orbit the moon; at the same moment a Centaur rocket will be launched from the spacecraft for an impact at twice the speed of a bullet into a crater near the moon's south pole.
The rocket's impact will raise a cloud of dust and debris that is expected to contain particles of ice.
The SWIR cameras will record images of the debris, which will be transmitted back to Earth in real time for evaluation.
Because the Goodrich SWIR cameras can detect moisture contrast through dust, smoke and fog, they can accurately record the LCROSS crash incident for precise study of the debris cloud.
SWIR technology detects reflected light at wavelengths that the human eye cannot see, in wavelength bands between visible and thermal cameras.
The extremely small and lightweight size of the Goodrich system makes it ideal for space travel; use of advanced materials and circuitry allow it to run without cooling, unlike other night-vision technologies that need cumbersome cooling systems.
