14 Bulgarian-Made Cameras to Reach Moon Orbit on Board Artemis 1 Rocket

Jerusalem, 29 August, 2022 (TPS) -- SOFIA, 29.08.2022 (BTA)
NASA’s Artemis 1 rocket, which is ready for launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday morning Bulgarian time, carries 14 aerospace imaging cameras made by Bulgarians, Dr Petko Dinev told BTA.

The devices were produced by Imperx, a company of which Dinev is founder, President and CEO. They are of the Bobcat line which can function in a temperature range from minus 40 C to 85 C, holding out against strong vibrations and an acceleration that is 100 times higher than the Earth’s. The cameras will monitor the operation of the engines, the fuel systems and the separation of the crew capsule Orion during the first flight as part of the Artemis 1 mission to the Moon.

Dinev designed the cameras for the 98-m megarocket. All components and the preparatory work were done in Bulgaria, and then the cameras were assembled by Bulgarians at the Imperx office in Boca Raton, Florida.

“We can proudly say that these are the products of Bulgarian brains and hands,” Dinev said.

A graduate of the High School of Mathematics in Kazanluk, Central Bulgaria, Dinev earned his M.Sc. degree in Applied Physics from Sofia University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He has worked in both academe and industry, including as assistant professor in physics and optics at the Sofia Technical University, technical staff member of Sarnoff Corp., Princeton, New Jersey, and Senior Research Fellow at Concord Camera Corp., Hollywood, Florida.

During his career he was responsible for new products development, and he successfully marketed numerous cameras, ranging from consumer digital cameras, advanced high-definition cameras to special application military and space imaging systems.

His Imperx company is a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance, high-quality digital cameras and frame grabbers for various industrial, commercial, military and aerospace imaging applications, including biometrics, aerial mapping, surveillance, traffic management, scientific and medical imaging, homeland security, and space exploration.