Qualification Of LEDs For Cameras On NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander

NASA's Phoenix Mars lander employs a suite of instruments to investigate the properties of the planet's North polar region. A Robotic Arm is used to retrieve subsurface samples for analysis, and a Robotic Arm Camera mounted on the wrist of the arm provides images of the surface and of material in the scoop. The RAC and the Optical Microscope both utilize LEDs, which enable the generation of true color imagery and provide higher illumination levels at lower power levels than the incandescent lamps used on a predecessor instrument. Although red, green and blue LEDs were available when the instruments were being developed, the manufacturers had not tested the devices in all the environments the spacecraft would encounter. This paper details the results of a series of tests conducted to qualify the lamps for the temperature, vibration, and radiation environments they would encounter during the mission.