Contact:
Chris Burroughs, (505) 277-1816
Jody Gambles, (505) 272-7049
November 14, 1997
UNM MICRO-CHIP TO BE ON JOINT NASA AND JAPANESE SPACE MISSION
A joint NASA and Japanese space mission studying tropical rainfall and "El Nino" weather patterns scheduled for launch on Tuesday will contain a micro-chip designed by the University of New Mexico's Microelectronics Research Center.
The chip, located in the body of the spacecraft, will encode data being sent back to Earth so that it will be error free and provide more precise information.
"It's like eliminating snow from a television set," says chip designer Jody Gambles, research assistant professor at the center.
This is the second time the chip has been used in a NASA mission. The first was part of the x-ray Timing Explorer, a Goddard Space Flight Center mission studying x-rays in space launched in December 1995. Another of Gambles' chips, a different type of encoder, is currently part of the NASA Hubble Space Telescope.
Gambles says that NASA now considers his encoder chip to be part of their "generic" systems, meaning that it is a standard piece of equipment for space crafts.
"The chip is the equivalent of off the shelf technology and represents a big savings for NASA because it doesn't have to be recreated for each mission," Gambles says.
The mission being launched Tuesday from Japan, called Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), will measure tropical and subtropical rainfall through microwave and visible infrared sensors. Tropical rainfall comprises more than two-thirds of global rainfall and is the primary driver of global atmospheric circulation as a heat source. The knowledge of the tropical rainfall and its variability is crucial to better understand the global climate and changes to it, such as "El Nino."
The project is a joint effort between Japan and the United States. NASA is proving the spacecraft, which contains the UNM micro-chip, and four instruments to be used in the taking the measurements. Japan is providing the launch vehicle and one mission instrument.
"Our chip is an important part of this mission. While it is not a measuring instrument, it allows for the information being sent back to be readable and enables the whole thing," Gambles says.
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