Kinemetrics is pleased to
announce our technology contribution to the delivery of a micro-machined
silicon seismometer for NASA's InSight mission to Mars. Although the mission
itself has been delayed by an unrelated problem in a separate instrument, the
microseismometer known as SP was successfully built, tested and delivered last
year with a performance exceeding mission requirements.
The new launch date for
the mission is for a window beginning on May 5th 2018. The micro-machined sensors built at Imperial College London are based on a joint
Kinemetrics/Imperial development program and have set a record for the lowest
noise floor of any MEMS sensor at 0.3 ng/√Hz. To achieve such performance the
sensors are coupled with electronics designed by Kinemetrics and built at
Oxford University.
The sensors can operate over a tilt range of 15 degrees on
Mars, equivalent to 6 degrees on Earth with no compromise in performance. Their
robustness to the harsh environment expected on the InSight mission was
demonstrated during vibration testing to 28 grms, and shock testing
exceeding 200g. Beyond InSight and Mars these microseismometers are now prime
candidates for proposed missions to Europa, Jupiter's icy moon as well as our
own Moon.
Learn more about NASA's InSight mission to Mars here.
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