The short answer is no--w/regards to computers and solid state memories. The amount of shielding needed to prevent single-event upsets is pretty substantial: meters of regolith, for instance.Rad hard electronics is pretty expensive and also 'dumbs down' CPU's so the typical Space rated CPU is only a fraction of the speed and computing power of a typical ground rated CPU. I believe that this has to do with the necessity of having extra electronics on the chips to do real-time parity checking and correcting, and to detect and bleed off anomalous charge depositions caused by cosmic-ray strikes...There is also the need to make the components more robust because of the inherent need for radiation damage resistance. I really don't know how it is done, but rad hard electronics is a real art aparently.
Electronic components only works within a temperature range. Use of COTS components requires temperature controls. Military components have a wider range than civilian components and normally are better at resisting radiation.
The short answer is no--w/regards to computers and solid state memories. The amount of shielding needed to prevent single-event upsets is pretty substantial: meters of regolith, for instance.I really don't know how it is done, but rad hard electronics is a real art aparently.
Quote from: TyMoore on 05/21/2010 02:50 pmThe short answer is no--w/regards to computers and solid state memories. The amount of shielding needed to prevent single-event upsets is pretty substantial: meters of regolith, for instance.I really don't know how it is done, but rad hard electronics is a real art aparently.Polar and GEO orbits do experience more radiation and likely require rad-hard components. A bio-science payload I worked on (electronics and software design) was on the MIR space station for a few years. I made inquiries as to whether rad-hard components were needed. We were considering using lead shielding or something like that. I was told radiation was not a problem we needed to worry about with a low inclination LEO orbit. Our payload didn't have any electronic failures during its time on MIR. It burned up with MIR when the space station was de-orbited. Any radiation effects that do occur can be mitigated by the use of a "watchdog" circuit or software function. Electronic hardware that is left on continuously with no power down cycling may be more susceptible to radiation effects if it causes latchup. Radiation hits, even by alpha particles, does not usually cause permanent damage; if the flux is low.
I've always wondered, just how different are the requirements between human habitation and electronics protection, in terms of space radiation?Which is the more demanding requirement, and by how much? Can somebody help quantify it for me?Ross.
...Temperature extremes play hell on microelectronics: if the temperature slips below the glass transition temperature of structural components (like pc boards) then they can literally break from thermal stress. This is probably what ultimately did in the Pheonix lander on Mars.
It sounds as if off the shelf processors are O.K. as long as thorough error checking and correcting is implemented in the design. Perhaps a block of processors operating in a 5 way voting scheme--similar to the Space Shuttle GPC's--could be used for Criticality 1 applications. Data processing and non-critical applications could use more conventional networks...