Employees of Betatronix Llc of Hauppauge have a special interest in the scheduled landing Sunday of the Phoenix Mars Lander, an exploratory spacecraft designed to study the history of water and habitability potential of the red planet's arctic ice-rich soil.
Betatronix supplied the robotic arm of the Mars Lander with potentiometers, position indicators that monitor feedback on movable parts in space. Betatronix makes the devices for the space and defense industries.
The robotic arm of the spacecraft will dig into Mars' surface to collect samples for analysis.
Launched in August, the Phoenix Mars Mission is the first in NASA's Scout Program.
Betatronix, which employs about 75 people, also supplied potentiometers for the Mars Rover program.
--Gary Dymski