New Horizons to Pluto: Qorvo Helps Send Images from Pluto to Earth
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Three billion miles
After nine years and 3 billion miles, the New Horizons spacecraft captured the world’s first images of Pluto and its moons. Working with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Qorvo helped equip the New Horizons spacecraft with the critical technologies that keep it operational.
Nine years after launch, world's first images of Pluto captured
The mission marked the first visit to the Kuiper Belt, a large region of small, orbiting icy bodies at least a billion miles beyond Neptune, where the New Horizons spacecraft collected the world's most detailed data and images of Pluto and its moons and sent them back to Earth for evaluation.
Notably, Qorvo components played an active role in helping New Horizons transmit pictures and data back to Earth – pictures that became the world’s first high-definition images of Pluto.
"This successful flight demonstrates how Qorvo technology can withstand the most demanding environment – space – where years of reliability are critical," said Roger Hall, general manager of Qorvo Defense and Space Products. "This is a technology that was built for space, and nine years later, when NASA was ready to communicate, it delivered."
Pluto as seen by New Horizons on July 11, 2015
Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI
The mission (launched in 2006) seeks to learn more about Pluto and its moons, as well as the characteristics of this "third region of the solar system" compared to the larger inner planets, which are made of rock and gas.
New Horizons technology
Qorvo has been working with Johns Hopkins for more than 25 years to teach Applied Physics Laboratory students how to design, simulate and test components for our factories.
Specifically, there are four Qorvo communications system components used on New Horizons:
Narrowband frequency tripler designed by Qorvo in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) for X-Band Uplink Doppler Tracking Applications
VCO in the command receiver
X-Band Downlink Transmitter
"We worked with Qorvo to design technology for space exploration missions to Mercury and Pluto, and it has been exciting to see this technology come to fruition," said John Penn, professor of engineering at Johns Hopkins. "Through collaboration with Qorvo, Johns Hopkins graduate students were able to design, simulate and test frequency triplers; one narrowband tripler design was ultimately used in a digital receiver for the Pluto mission."
Qorvo's Space Expertise
We are very proud that our space-grade technology is used in New Horizons and other space exploration missions, such as the Curiosity rover landing on Mars and the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft approaching Saturn. It reflects the excellence of our engineers and our commitment to developing the most reliable RF solutions in the industry.
With a long history of developing products for space, Qorvo components deliver the rugged reliability needed to survive the rigors of space and, most importantly, communicate back to Earth.
More than 250,000 Qorvo components are already in orbit on payloads such as communications and navigation satellites, including programs supporting broadband data, telecommunications and global positioning services.
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变色卡
千斤顶
Qorvo is really amazing. It even has a presence in space.