BAE Systems Computers Made in Nashua, N.H., Reach Saturn After 7-Year Journey

Jul. 13–NASHUA, N.H. — After a 2.2 billion-mile, seven-year journey, BAE Systems computers have reached Saturn aboard the international Cassini-Huygens spacecraft.

“There’s a total of seven of our computers on board,” said Vic Scuderi, BAE Systems manager of space programs in Manassas, Va.

BAE Systems Information & Electronic Warfare Systems, based in Nashua, built the seven Advanced Spaceborne Computer Module (ASCM) microprocessors taking data onboard Cassini. The seven computers handle command and control of the spacecraft and provide processing for several instruments and will gather information on Saturn’s rings, icy satellites, the planet’s magnetosphere, and Titan, the largest of the planet’s 31 moons — and the only one that has an atmosphere, Scuderi said.

“It’s important for BAE in that we are able to bring our technology to the enhancement or future of science,” Scuderi said. “We’re moving the ball down the field.” NASA chose BAE for the project in 1995, and the four-year study of Saturn was launched Oct. 15, 1997. The Cassini orbiter reached the planet June 30.

“There are 12 instruments on the satellite for taking scientific data. We are on half of those, and the other half didn’t need computers,” Scuderi said. “We’re going to get an eyeful when it comes to Saturn and the rings of Saturn.”

BAE Systems worked with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to create the radiation-hardened version of the microprocessor. Nearly 200 ASCM microprocessors are in orbit today, serving commercial telecommunications, military, and research and exploration programs.

The ASCM microprocessor is one of a family of radiation-hardened computers developed and produced by BAE Systems with support of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Air Force Research Lab. The ASCM and RAD6000 computers can be found on more than 100 satellites in space.

The newest member of the processor family, the RAD750, will be used on the “Deep Impact” mission to be launched later this year. That mission will create a deep crater in a comet in an effort to find clues to the formation of the solar system, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Web site.

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