• 5 min read Technology Originally Developed for Space Missions Now Integral to Everyday Life NASA Science Editorial Team Groundbreaking “camera-on-a-chip” technology that was originally developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for use in space missions is currently employed in billions of devices like cell phones that are used daily by people worldwide. • In the 1980s, sensors used to produce high-quality images for space science (including the amazing images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope) and other applications employed charge coupled device (CCD) technology. • Eric Fossum was originally hired at JPL in 1990 to advance CCD technology for use in interplanetary space missions, but he ended up advancing another technology called complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology for that purpose and much more. • While at JPL, Fossum took advantage of a technique commonly used for CCDs and applied it to CMOS sensors to develop the first CMOS active pixel image sensor. • This development began a chain of events that led to the present use of CMOS technology not only in space science missions, but also in billions of cameras in smartphones, webcams, automobiles, and medical devices used worldwide. • A new technology emerges… In 1990, CCDs were the primary technology used to generate high-quality images.

Article Summaries:

  • NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory pioneered a “camera‑on‑a‑chip” that began as a high‑performance CCD for space missions. In 1990 Dr. Eric Fossum shifted focus to CMOS sensors, applying a CCD noise‑reduction technique-“intra‑pixel charge transfer with correlated double sampling”-to create the first CMOS active‑pixel image sensor. The result was a low‑power, radiation‑resistant sensor with competitive image quality. Fossum licensed the technology from CalTech, founded Photobit, and later joined Micron Technology after its acquisition of Photobit in 2001. Today, CMOS sensors power billions of smartphones, webcams, automotive cameras, and medical devices worldwide, illustrating the transition from space‑grade imaging to everyday use.
  • Groundbreaking “camera-on-a-chip” technology that was originally developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for use in space missions is currently employed in billions of devices like cell phones that are used daily by people worldwide. In the 1980s, sensors used to produce high-quality images for space science (including the amazing images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope) and other applications employed charge coupled device (CCD) technology. Dr. Eric Fossum was originally hired at JPL in 1990 to advance CCD technology for use in interplanetary space missions, but he ended up adva

Sources: