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Product category: Embedded Software and Operating Systems
News Release from: Wind River Systems | Subject: VxWorks
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 13 June 2003

RTOS powers Mars Exploration Rovers

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers, are powered by Wind River technology

Following the success of the 1997 Mars Pathfinder Mission, NASA JPL once again selected Wind River's industry leading real time operating system, VxWorks - whose reliability under extreme circumstances is unmatched in the industry - and Tornado integrated development environment (IDE) to create the "brains" of the new Rovers.

Wind River technology will enable the machines to perform complex, mission-critical tasks, including trajectory, descent and ground operations control, data collection, Mars to Earth communication relay and more.

Wind River was the first commercial operation system to go to Mars when it worked with NASA JPL on the successful 1997 Mars Pathfinder Mission.

The Mars Pathfinder included a basestation, the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, which was powered by Wind River.

The basestation controlled critical mission activities ranging from trajectory, to landing, to guiding an exploratory rover, the Sojourner, which collected data and photographs that were sent back to Earth.

With greater mobility than the 1997 Mars Pathfinder, these self-sufficient robots will now be able to trek up to approximately 40m across the surface each day - as compared with the few metres per day that the Pathfinder Sojourner could travel.

Wind River technology will once again power the mission-critical operations and help relay critical data back to Earth.

The Mars Exploration Rover "twins" are scheduled to blast off to Mars in two separate launches this month and are scheduled to land at separate sites on Mars in January 2004.

"Wind River is extremely proud of its role as a technology supplier for a prestigious organisation such as NASA JPL.

Wind River's technology has helped power successful missions that further space exploration while helping NASA deliver on its commitment to low-cost planetary exploration", said Jerry Fiddler, Chairman and cofounder for Wind River.

"NASA JPL's decision to work with Wind River on the first and the second generation of Mars Rovers is testament to the proven, reliable technology and services that Wind River provides its customers time and time again".

The Mars Exploration Rovers' software packages were developed using Tornado 1.0.1 for Mars Exploration Rover (a special release) and debugger with updates spanning VxWorks releases from 5.1 to 5.5.

The flexibility and portability of Wind River's software has allowed NASA JPL engineers to leverage work for future projects and enables concurrent development and debugging of the application, which is critical in the unlikely event the system needs to be adjusted from millions of miles away.

Since its inception in 1981, Wind River has been a trusted advisor in the development of aerospace and defence products.

The company's reliable technology has successfully powered countless products in the reaches of our universe, including NASA's space "lifeboat", NASA's Deep Space One satellite, and the European Space Agency's PROBA satellite, among others.

The Mars Exploration Rover mission is part of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA's lead centre for robotic exploration of the solar system, which is managed by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.

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