Kromek on Mars

Summary

NASA’s Curiosity rover on its mission on Mars was equipped with sophisticated radiation detection technology developed by the Kromek team in California. Contributing to the overall question as to whether Mars harbours the environmental factors necessary to support life, Kromek’s technology reliably measured the radiation exposure of the craft as it travelled through space, essential information for planning future missions.

Download the pdf

Get your digital copy of the 'Kromek on Mars' user story.

Click to download

Kromek have played a part in a successful mission to Mars

On 5 August 2012 Nasa successfully landed the Curiosity rover on the planet Mars. Nasa describes Curiosity as the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars, the six-wheeled rover began by probing rocks and soil in the Gale Crate crater that billions of years ago may have been filled with water.

Curiosity set out to answer the question: Did Mars ever have the right environmental conditions to support life?

It was the Kromek Team in California who provide the sophisticated instruments that Nasa used on the journey to Mars to measure the radiation exposure of the craft as it travelled through space. The data will be used for planning future missions.

The Curiosity rover is still going strong, Nasa provides updates on their official mission site: Mars Curiosity mission updates.

This mission on Mars is arguably one of the most sophisticated engineering challenges undertaken at the time, so for Kromek to have made a contribution to the effort is a landmark for us. It demonstrates the company's leading-edge technical expertise and record of providing complex and reliable products."