Florentine aerospace company to participate in NASA mission - Galileo Avionica (part of the Finmeccanica group) will take part in NASA s Phoenix mission that will land a probe on Mars in May 2008.
The launch from Cape Canaveral is slated for the first week in August. Two Galileo A-STR sensors one of the company s most successful lines will be aboard the space probe.
Part of A-STR s technology is its star chart software that holds recorded data about more than 3,200 stars. Should the probe lose its way, the same A-STR sensor will automatically detect its new position and furnish the on-board computer with the information to put it back on track.
The Phoenix mission has two main goals the first is the study of Mars waters, (the key to understanding past climate changes); the second is the search for possible life.
Galileo Avionica has produced more than 350 stellar, terrestrial and solar probes and competes with much larger firms on both traditional and open markets.
