Year after year, program after program, Optimax continues to push the limits of possible in complexity, quality and speed for its customers.
Optimax excels at grinding, polishing and coating precision optics quickly and reliably. We can deliver high precision optics in as little as one week.
Optimax is proud to have participated in many NASA programs. We have supplied NASA with high-quality imaging lenses designed for position sensing, mapping landforms, and optical analysis.
Launched: 2020
Mission: The Mars 2020 mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the Red Planet. This mission addresses questions about the potential for life on Mars and takes the next step by not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past but also searching for signs of past microbial life itself.
Optimax on Board: NavCam, HazCam, CacheCam, Mastcam, Sherloc
Perseverance Is on Its Way to Mars
Find the Countdown to Landing, Mission Phase, and more about the Rover’s Mission by clicking here
Full Gallery of Image Resources: Mars Perseverance Rover Images
Video Resources: Mars Perseverance Rover Videos
Videos and Images Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Launched: 2004
Mission: To study Mercury’s chemical composition, geology and magnetic field.
Messengers power comes mainly from its solar array. Power produced by the solar array is stored in a battery and then distributed to the other systems.
This satellite provided evidence that Mercury’s polar craters contain water ice.
Check out the entire mission details on the NASA website: NASA’s Mercury Messenger Mission
Find out Details: Messenger: The Extreme Mission
Full Gallery of Image Resources: Mercury Messanger Mission Images
Video Resources: Mercury Messanger Mission Videos
Videos and Images Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Launched: 1988
Mission: To enable long-term exploration of space and provide benefits to people on Earth. As the third brightest object in the sky the space station is easy to see if you know when to look up.
The space station, including its large solar arrays, spans the area of a U.S. football field, including the end zones, and weighs 924,739 pounds.
Check out the entire mission details on the NASA website: International Space Station mission
Find out Details: International Space Station Mission
Full Gallery of Image Resources: International Space Station Mission Images
Video Resources: International Space Station Mission Videos
Videos and Images Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Launched: 2009
Mission: Helps researchers watch the earth breathe and maps CO2 from space to help understand how humanity’s contribution of the greenhouse gas is affecting global climate change.
A faulty rocket brought the observatory plunging to the earth right after its launch in 2009.
Check out more on climate change and current and future NASA missions:
NASA’s Study of Global Climate Change
Videos and Images Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Launched: 2009
Mission: A robotic mission that set out to map the moon’s surface and, after a year of exploration, was extended with a unique set of science objectives.
Images from LRO created a new picture of the moon as a dynamic and complex body.
Provided insight into how radiation can change the chemistry of water ice throughout the solar system.
Check out the entire mission details on the NASA website: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission
Find out Details: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission
Full Gallery of Image Resources: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Images
Videos and Images Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Launched: 2003
Mission: The Mars Exploration Rovers act as robot geologists while they are on the surface of Mars.
In some senses, the rovers´ parts are similar to what any living creature would need to keep it “alive” and able to explore.
Mars in a Minute. Watch how to get to the red planet.
Check out the entire mission details on the NASA website: Mars Rovers Spirit & Opportunity Mission
Full Gallery of Image Resources: Mars Rovers Spirit & Opportunity Mission Images
Video Resources: Mars Rovers Spirit & Opportunity Mission Videos
Videos and Images Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Launched: 2011
Mission: The Mars Science Laboratory landed in Gale Crater on August 5, 2012, at 10:31 p.m. PDT
Optimax optics made it possible for the Mars Rover to take its first images of Mars.
For more information about the landing of Curiosity check out NASA MSL’s, “7 Minutes of Terror”, which shows how Optimax lenses made this landing possible.
Check out the entire mission details on the NASA website: NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover
Full Gallery of Image Resources: Mars Curiosity Rover Images
Video Resources: Mars Curiosity Rover Videos
Videos and Images Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Launched: 2006
Mission: The New Horizons mission will help us understand worlds at the edge of our solar system by making the first reconnaissance of the dwarf planet Pluto and by venturing deeper into the distant, mysterious Kuiper Belt – a relic of solar system formation.
New Horizons launched on Jan. 19, 2006; it swung past Jupiter for a gravity boost and scientific studies in February 2007 and will conduct a five-month-long reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons in summer 2015. Pluto’s closest approach is scheduled for July 14, 2015. As part of an extended mission, the spacecraft is expected to head farther into the Kuiper Belt to examine one or two of the ancient, icy mini-worlds in that vast region, at least a billion miles beyond Neptune’s orbit.
Sending a spacecraft on this long journey will help us answer basic questions about the surface properties, geology, interior makeup and atmospheres on these bodies.
Optimax on Board: Optimax lenses are on-board the LORRI (Long Range Reconnaissance Imager) telescopic camera which will obtain data at long distances and map Pluto’s far side and provide high-resolution geologic data.
Check out the entire mission details on the NASA website: Jupiter Fly-By- New Horizon Mission
Videos and Images Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Launched: 2007
Mission: New Horizons is en route to Pluto, and made its closest approach to Jupiter on February 28, 2007, giving more insight into the planet.
The ultraviolet images show aurora emissions that are always present in the polar regions of Jupiter. They are typically 10-100 times brighter than the northern lights seen on the Earth.
Through combined remote imaging by Hubble and in situ measurements by New Horizons, the two missions will enhance each other scientifically, allowing scientists to learn more about Jupiter’s atmosphere.
Check out the entire mission details on the NASA website: NASA’s Pluto New Horizons Mission
New Horizons: The First Mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper Belt: Read the Complete Story
Full Gallery of Image Resources: Pluto New Horizons Mission Images
Video Resources: Pluto New Horizons Mission Videos
Videos and Images Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
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