Warrenville, IL, July, 1997 -- Two integrated switching regulators (ISRs) designed and manufactured by Power Trends, Inc. supported the Mars Rover (called "Sojourner") that successfully landed on mars this month.

Sojourner was built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA. JPL conducted extensive testing on the Power Trends’ switching regulators and found their performance exceeded the requirements of the mission. JPL selected the Power Trends’ 78ST133, a +3.3V/1.5A regulator, to power the lasers used in Sojourner’s navigation system and the 78HT205, a +5V/2A regulator, to power Sojourner’s CPU. Both parts regulate Sojourner’s battery power at very high efficiency.

Ronald Banes, Technical Manager for the Rover Power Team at JPL, saw one of Power Trends’ ads about 3 years ago and requested a catalog. They needed to operate the parts outside their normal temperature specifications, so Ron bought some and subjected them to some very stringent testing. He ran 8,000 power cycles with input voltages up to 36V and 30 thermal cycles from -55 to +85°C. He took them as low as -100°C and they started and ran just fine. In short, he said they tried to break them but couldn’t. Based on these results, JPL designed them in.

Weighing only about 23 pounds, Sojourner is a small, six-wheel robotic vehicle. It landed on Mars on board the Pathfinder spacecraft and then quickly struck out on its own to explore the Martian terrain, perform science and technology experiments and transmit to scientists on Earth -- via the spacecraft Pathfinder -- information, images and data about Mars.

Power Trends designs and manufactures a full line of integrated switching regulators (ISRs) and DC to DC converters developed from a unique high-frequency design that has won national recognition for the Company as a power supply innovator. Power Trends’ products are sold through a world-wide network of sales representatives and distributors.