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Robots vs solar/cosmic radiation ? 2

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rb1957

rb1957

Aerospace
Apr 15, 2005
15,637
I'm reading a bunch about robots in psace, particularly assembling structures in space. How to protect against solar and cosmic radiation ? Is it like HIRF protection for airplane electrical circuits?

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?
 
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That's what I expected … to "ruggedize" satellite electronics (outside of the van Allen belts) is not QED. We've obviously done it so it's not That difficult … just the cost of doing business in space.

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?
 
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The two major costs are
> IC design -- different processing, guard rings, etc., means that any high-performance processor is essentially set back a couple of generations. Even the lowliest logic gates would need to be hardened
> testing -- gamma ray, x-ray, etc. very expensive, since there's only a few places that have the radioactive sources.

Shielding adds weight, which adds to launch costs.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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I guess one way of looking at it is that on the surface of the earth we have an enclosure with 15 lbs./sq.in. of mass shielding us from radiation on one side, much more on the other).
 
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Some COTS electronics are used on the International Space Station. At the LEO altitude of the ISS the Earth magnetosphere still provides a lot of shielding. The COTS electronics allowed do not perform critical functions, and the astronauts can change it or do without if it should fail.
 
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ISS is in a pretty low LEO, at that; it needs to be continually re-supplied with fuel, although it uses much less at its current altitude (~400 km) than its previous 350-km altitude.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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I was thinking more about deep space … like Lunar Gateway, or transiting to Mars. As I thought about I realised we do that now … so hardening isn't unheard of.

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?
 
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No, it's pretty common, actually. And, since the magnetosphere doesn't make it to the Moon, any lunar probes get the full effect, although they get shielded as they go around the backside of the Moon.

The oldest functioning Earth/Moon probe appears to be ARTEMIS The oldest functioning satellite was GOES3, which operated for 38 years

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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Want to read about radiation hardening?
Go to Jupiter.
JUNO
That link is a bit basic, but may provoke searches that deliver more detailed info.

There is a mil-spec for EM shielding. Maybe there's one for radiation shielding. Well, no - I'm sure there is one. But "Maybe" it's publicly readable on ASSIST.

No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
STF
 
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itsmoked said:
Ah. I wonder if any have suffered premature failures rationally attributed to radiation.
Click to expand...
Looking on the internet there is a lot of info on cubestat and radiation. Mostly on anticipated effects and radiation testing. Some seem to have employed some rad-hard electronics apparently to reset the commercial electronics payload in the event of an upset.

I did find this list on nanosatellites: If you click the "view fullscreen", in an expanded database list you will get a column with a simple statement of end-of-mission failure and date. Most seem to have attributed failure to reentry, power systems, or batteries. I guess you can't know if "loss of communications" or other reason is actually due to radiation.
 
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Cosmic rays are the most energetic, and it's reported that the majority of those are not originating from our Sun.

For radiation from our Sun, in this context we finally have a chance to use the phrase 'dark side of the Moon' in a precisely correct manner, but...

"...shielded as they go around the backside of the Moon."

:)
 
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"...shielded as they go around the backside of the Moon."

Where the satellite is safely protected from radiation from the Earth.
Eg. Fox News broadcasts.

No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
STF
 
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Robots like that will need to be extra strong and I don't think that the world already have such material.
 
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There is a Venus probe in the works (LLISSE) that is being design for one of the more extreme environments in the solar system. The chips will be built from/hardened by? silicon carbide.
 
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