EWING — Photodiode modules engineered by a township-based firm and used by NASA in a recent mission with the International Space Station have returned to Earth, where scientists believe they can help explain the extreme temperatures in space by revealing measures of radiation and ultraviolet rays along their journey.
The devices, provided to NASA at no cost, were transported on Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2009.
After being positioned on the station and capturing data for 18 months, they returned on space shuttle Endeavour last June.
The High Speed InGaAs Photodiode and Balanced Photodiode modules engineered by Discovery Semiconductors were launched as part of NASA Langley Research Center’s LIDAR transceiver, which aims to capture information using a radar that also gathers optical data through light.
“We wanted to check the effect of radiation in space, and why the temperature extremes are experienced,” said Discovery Semiconductors President and CEO Abhay Joshi. “They are also installed in such a way that NASA (could) detect ultraviolet rays.”
The ultimate test, he said, was to determine if the modules survived the harsh conditions experienced in space. The initial results, he said, were positive.
“We found out they were pretty much intact,” he said. “Anything you launch in space ... you have to make sure it withstands the harsh environment. That was the object of this mission.”
The modules were stored in a rugged, suitcase-shaped container, and were analyzed by NASA officials before being returned last month to Discovery Semiconductor, which has headquarters on Silvia Street in Ewing.
The static devices did not take active measurements, but they reveal how much radiation or ultraviolet rays they were exposed to along the journey.
This mission is particularly unique, Joshi said, in that the devices survived their journey and were returned to the Ewing laboratory for analysis, a rarity in the field of study.
“I have worked on space missions before, but the devices launched rarely come back to earth, as most spacecrafts get destroyed in the atmospheric re-entry after their missions are over,” Joshi said. “To me, as a scientist, it is very exciting to see that they came back.”
Over the next nine months, scientists will analyze the returned modules to engineer more rugged equipment for future missions.
“This data is going to be very useful,” he said. “It is really a golden opportunity.”
The Ewing-based firm has a staff of 25.
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