Mars Rover Imaging Sensors Made in Rochester

In less than a week, a NASA rover launched back in November will land on Mars.

They hope it will send back the best pictures of Mars ever seen and help scientists find out if there's ever been life on the "red planet."

It turns out some of the technology onboard the rover is made in Rochester.

"This is unique technology have here," said Chris McNiffe, CEO of Truesense Imaging.

A small sensor, not much larger than a quarter, is expected to capture images from Mars.

"It''s a two megapixel image sensor that takes very high quality images in all kinds of different environmental conditions," said McNiffe.

Truesense Imaging, an offshoot of a former Kodak business, built the sensors for the four cameras on NASA Mars rover called "Curiosity."

"Always a big interest to try to determine if the parts of Mars were able to sustain water or life, some of the cameras will be used for those types of applications," said McNiffe.

The sensors are manufactured on Lake Avenue next door to the company's new offices housed in a former Kodak building.

Inside a clean room, in space Trusense Imaging leases from Kodak, you'll find workers dressed a bit like astronauts.

It's an environment that ensures no contaminants are present due to the sensitive materials used to manufacture the sensors.

"The types of sensors that we build are very high-end, very unique and very specialized and they are quite frankly not available from any other manufacturer worldwide," said McNiffe.

The Mars rover launched in November and will travel 352 million miles.

It's a mission of a lifetime for NASA and now a company that calls Rochester home.

"Assuming everything goes well, it's an exciting mission...a source of pride for us.," said McNiffe.

Curiosity is expected to land sometime between August 5 and 6th.