Camera Systems and Services for Space Missions

MSSS has extensive experience designing and building innovative space-qualified camera and instrument systems that set new performance benchmarks at reduced cost, working within highly constrained mass, volume, and power envelopes.

For missions with highly-tailored requirements, MSSS develops custom space camera systems. Missions with more flexible requirements and more constrained budgets or schedules can leverage the standard ECAM modular space camera platform.

MSSS has decades of collective tactical and strategic space flight instrument operations experience and provides unparalleled support to maximize data return value.

With extensive computing and data storage resources and custom-developed ground data system tools, MSSS has targeted, returned, and processed hundreds of thousands of images from the cameras we’ve flown. For NASA missions, the validated data are delivered to NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS) public archive. 

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MSSS custom camera designs for space exploration are highly informed by the scientific expertise of the instrument team and MSSS research partners. MSSS scientists have served as Principal Investigators, Co-Investigators, and Participating Scientists on more than a dozen NASA missions to investigate Mars, Venus, the Moon, asteroids, and other Solar System objects.

MSSS researchers have made many original contributions to the collective understanding of the geology and history of Mars.