Ibadan, 2 January 2024. – NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, has selected DCUBED as its first choice for space pin pullers for the critical Space Qualified Rover Lidar (SQRLi) Support project. The SQRLi project is a LIDAR engineering test unit with a 35m or greater range sensor array to provide a 40×40 field of view and operate under poor lighting conditions for rover-based missions and autonomous exploration of extreme environments like permanently shadowed lunar craters.
The project required the procurement of a space pin puller, necessitating a small form factor, operating within tight constraints of mass and space – and the key requirement was that the space pin puller needed to be resettable for testing purposes. DCUBED consequently emerged as the frontrunner and eventual winner of the waiver and procurement process, offering a space pin puller that met NASA’s criteria. For example, it satisfied the strict mass and size requirements for the SQRLi project.
The NASA team at Goddard Space Flight Center highlighted the exhaustive comparison they had done among different types of space pin pullers. However, the Space Agency identified the Shape Memory Alloy pin pullers as the preferred type, noting their reliability and operational and testing advantages. Furthermore, DCUBED’s offering included a reset function; since its space pin pullers are field resettable up to hundreds of times, adding an extra layer of versatility and functionality.
The Company believes that NASA’s decision to go with them over a larger domestic competitor reflects the agency’s recognition that they could not domestically procure the innovative and technological excellence that was necessary for the SQRLi project. Furthermore, DCUBED notes that its commitment to precision engineering and designing products for all sizes and mission types played a considerable role in developing an offering that met all of NASA’s criteria.
