MSGT Journal - News and Views from the Mars Society at Georgia Tech

November 14, 2006

Meeting - Jonathan Sharma’s NIAC Research

Mars Society @ Georgia Tech Meeting
Room 320 of the Student Center (note the room change!)
11AM, Tuesday, November 28, 2006 (note the date change!)

Our good friend and former programs officer Jonathan Sharma will be presenting the research he’s working on for NIAC.

—Posted by Erik Kabo Nov 14, 2006 @ 12:00

November 08, 2006

Meeting - Letters to Our Representatives

Mars Society @ Georgia Tech Meeting
Room 320 of the Student Center (note the room change!)
11AM, Tuesday, November 14, 2006 (note the date change!)

Our next meeting will be November 14, not November 7th; please take the time on November 7th to go vote! We will discuss sending letters to our newly elected representatives to tell them why they need to support the space program. Please find out who your new representatives are and how to contact them, then come to the meeting and help us coordinate drafting and sending letters. As always, snacks will be served!

—Posted by Erik Kabo Nov 08, 2006 @ 12:07

November 04, 2006

EMS Technologies Defense and Space Systems to Provide Antennas for Mars Science Lab Landing

EMS Technologies, Inc. was a sponsor last year for MDRS Crew 47.

ATLANTA, Oct. 3, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) — EMS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELMG - News) announced today that NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has awarded EMS Defense and Space Systems a $1.2 million contract to provide Ka-band antennas for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) exploratory rover. The MSL is scheduled for liftoff sometime in September 2009, during a narrow launch window that occurs for only a few weeks every 26 months.

The MSL is twice as long as and carries a greater payload than the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. At liftoff in 2009, the MSL will carry the largest, most advanced set of instruments for on-the-spot science duties ever dispatched to the Martian surface. The rover is being designed to assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support life.

The Ka-band antennas, which use EMS’s patented slot array technology, are a critical part of the Terminal Descent Sensor (TDS), which will guide the MSL to the surface of Mars. Unlike previous Mars rovers that used inflatable airbags to bounce the rovers to a halt on the planet’s surface, the MSL rover will use precision landing techniques to steer itself toward the Martian surface. EMS anticipates that the TDS antennas will be used on other future Mars missions as well.

“We are proud to be a part of this NASA mission of discovery that will vastly enrich our knowledge of the red planet,'’ said Jay Grove, senior vice president and general manager of EMS’s Defense and Space Systems division. “EMS was selected for this exciting program because of our technical strength, our forty years of space flight heritage, and our ability to meet the critical schedule this program requires.'’

About EMS Technologies, Inc.

EMS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELMG - News) is a leading innovator in the design and manufacture of wireless, satellite and defense solutions, and focuses its unique range of advanced technologies on the needs of broadband and mobile information users. The Company is headquartered in Atlanta, has approximately 1,200 workers worldwide, and operates manufacturing facilities in Atlanta, Ottawa and Brazil.

EMS Technologies’ Defense and Space Systems Division develops advanced technology systems for military and space applications. The division provides critical subsystems for communications, radar, and electronic warfare systems.

For more information, visit EMS on the World Wide Web at http://www.ems-t.com.

—Posted by Emily Colvin Nov 04, 2006 @ 15:05

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