Exciting Breakthrough- 0.5 micron (500 nm) Exact Leaks!

Lenox Laser has made exciting breakthroughs in the manufacturing processes of exact leaks!

Exact Leaks are calibrated microholes that are repeatedly and reliably generated in packages and/or other pharmaceutical and manufacturing goods.  These microholes are commonly used in integrity testing processes.

Lenox Laser's new process allows the creation of 0.5 micron holes in a wide variety of materials; including plastics and metals.

Please visit here: Services- Exact Leaks  on our website for more information.

Lenox Laser and NASA- Pioneering in Space

 

For 30 years, Lenox Laser has been involved in numerous NASA missions, providing quality parts and expertise. 

Exoplanet conceptualization. Credit: NASA

So in anticipation of our 30th anniversary, we have put together those missions which we have been involved in. It is truly amazing that we have some of our parts out in distant space providing critical data about our universe.

Only a few years after its invention, the LASER was used in NASA's pre-Moon landing missions in 1967. The founder of our company, Joseph d'Entremont, was involved in the laser testing and laser measuring of the distance of the Moon from Earth. He provided the backup system, which was successfully used after the primary contractor's system failed. He recalls that the power of the return signal he received was somewhere between a giga or terawatt.

Hubble Space Telescope:
We have had several parts on Hubble over the years. Starting in 1981, Lenox Laser provided precision crosshair fiducials and slits for the Hubble Instruments. We then twice provided custom stainless steel discs with crosses- in 1989 and 1991.

Galileo spacecraft. Credit: NASA

Galileo Mission:

In 1985, Lenox Laser drilled precision holes in Hasteloy discs for the Galileo Mission to Jupiter. They were for the Helium Leak Detector on the spacecraft. Galileo spent 14 years in space- 

7 to travel to Jupiter, and then 7 orbiting Jupiter and its moons. 

Galileo was then intentionally crashed onto Jupiter at the end of its mission to prevent contamination.

Kepler Mission:
1999 brought us the unique and monumental task of making a custom Starfield Plate for the Kepler Mission. This then led to the design and production of another "starfield" in 2000 for NASA's "Starfield" Project. The project is part of a system that can find orbiting bodies around distant astronomical bodies by detecting miniscule changes in light intensity. 


Messenger Mission:
We then made High Power Ceramic Apertures for the Messenger Mission which were for spatial filtering. The Messenger, and our apertures, orbited Venus on the way to its goal Mercury, where it is currently gathering information about the planet. The parts were hand delivered to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Light echo from a star. Credit: NASA Hubble

 
Mercury Laser Altimeter Project:
In 2003, Lenox Laser provided flight quality Alumina and Macor apertures for NASA's Mercury Laser Altimeter Project and the Space Lidar Technology Center.

STEREO Mission:
Most recently, we provided custom parts and consulting services for NASA's STEREO project which is providing revolutionary views of the Sun. The consulting was in support of testing the focus setting of one of the instruments during satellite integration at the Goddard Space Flight Center. As a result, Lenox Laser was awarded NASA's Instrument and Technology Division 2006 Contractor Team Spirit Award.

To read more about our pioneering with NASA and their missions, click through the following links:

General information

Lenox Laser Newsroom

Hubble Space Telescope

NASA site

Galileo Mission

NASA site

 Lenox Laser summary

Kepler Mission

 NASA site

 Lenox Laser summary

Messenger Mission

JHU-APL site

 Lenox Laser summary

STEREO Mission

NASA site

 Lenox Laser summary

Lenox Laser Helps Uncover Archimedes Palimpsest.

Intensive efforts are underway to uncover centuries-old hidden writings of Greek mathematician Archimedes. Researches at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) are utilizing advanced X-ray technology to uncover writings of Archimedes once completely unknown. Discovered in 1906 by then-Professor J.L. Heiberg of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, the hidden text appeared within historical monastic prayer documents. The ancient practice of washing text away to make reuse material is called "Palimpsesting".

The Archimedes Palimpsest writings lingered unseen for centuries, seemingly purged from the documents forever, until Professor Heiburg began to review small scrawls beneath the visible text. At SLAC, a revolutionary modern analysis of the writing medium has been made - revealing they do contain historically important information left behind by Archimedes, Hidden from the naked eye.

When confronted with an engineering challenge involving their Synchrotron X-Ray source, SLAC issued a request to Lenox Laser to produce microscopic laser-drilled holes in thin Tungsten film. These small apertures would prove critical to the team's success in uncovering the Palimpsest's "hidden treasure".

Using a new X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) technique, the team at SLAC, along with other collaborations, revealed writings involving mathematics and science once hidden for more than 1000 years. Conservation scientists are referencing this experiment to encourage similar new endeavors. Could many more documents in historical collections today hold hidden texts currently unknown? Time and Technology will tell.

The SLAC experiment has proven successful, and the story was featured on several prominent news and documentary programs. The Archimedes Palimpsest rests at the Walter's Art Gallery in Baltimore, MD - continuously monitored by preservation professionals, and studied regularly by scholars from around the world.

NASA's STEREO Mission

A close up of loops in a magnetic active region, observed by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. This powerful active region, observed here on Dec. 4, 2006 produced a series of intense flares over the next few days. Credit: NASA

 NASA's recent STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) project is a mission to capture the sun in three dimensions. The two-year long project involves having two near-identical telescopes (one ahead of earths' orbit and one behind) to record the behavior of the sun, studying phenomena like coronal mass ejections.
Lenox Laser fabricated custom parts for the government and provided consulting services in support of testing the focus setting of one of the STEREO instruments during satellite integration at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

Lenox Laser's role was critical to a successful test. As a result, Lenox Laser was awarded the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Instrument Systems and Technology Division 2006 Contractor Team Spirit Award.