SpaceDev Appreciates Being Appreciated

En route to the Red Planet is the Mars Phoenix Lander. And we’ve learned today that SpaceDev (OTCBB:SPDV) provided key hardware and instruments for this endeavor that included five flight actuator assemblies, key components of the Wet Chemistry Laboratory for the Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer (MECA) instrument that’s aboard NASA’s craft, all via contract to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Wet Chem Lab will receive a sample of the Martian soil, deliver it to a sensor assembly, otherwise known as a “beaker,” and liquid water, stir the solutions, and the monitor the pressure above the solution.



Plus, SpaceDev has also received a contract from the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) to develop a lunar lander vehicle prototype. The company has already performed four design and feasibility studies addressing various aspects of the ILO, a spacecraft that will conduct optical and radio astronomy from the Moon’s surface. The ILO could also engage in commercial activities such as astronomy, photography, communications and Internet hosting. This prototype will also use precision-controlled hybrid rocket motors throttling to achieve smooth landings—Poway, California—August 29, 2007