sorry,not related to mars, but in space none the less:
I remember reading a few years back about a Kodak-designed sensor that was something like 6x8 inches or so, was supposed to be going into spy satellites or something like that.
there were three versions(at least mentioned in the article, proably more. There were plans on installing them(1 sensitive to visible spectrum, no AA of course , one sensitive to IR(full spectrum), and the last one sensitive to Infrared(heat sensitive)) in a satellite for geologic and atmospheric mapping services(sure, its designed to be used to spy and observe )
not sure if this was true, but if it was, think about how many they must have thrown away in the process of finding flawless chips!
and lenses.... whoa!!!
-Dan