New Delhi: NASA needs to use extremely hardy processors that can operate in the harsh environment of space, and uses legacy chips developed years ago that are
reliable. Upgraded chips are necessary for autonomous spacecraft, and to accelerate scientific discovery through faster data analysis, for which it has launched the High Performance Spaceflight Computing project to develop a new radiation-hardened, high-performance processor capable of increasing the computational capacity by 100 times over conventional spaceflight computers. The new chips are going through intense ground testing that replicate the barrage of challenges that the chips are likely to encounter in space.
The processor must endure and survive radiation, thermal and shock tests to prove that it can survive the extremes of spaceflight. Electromagnetic radiation and extreme temperature swings can degrade electronics. High-energy particles can cause errors that send spacecraft into ‘safe mode’, where nonessential operations are shut down until mission operators resolve the issue. There are also unique challenges associated with landing on planetary bodies. The tests are incorporating data from real NASA missions. The processor is built by Microchip Technology Inc., with its HQ in Chandler, Arizona, through a commercial partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, through a commercial partnership.
The space SoC
Samples of the chips have been provided to partners in the broader defence and commercial aerospace industry. The technology will also allow autonomous spacecraft to respond to complex situations in realtime using artificial intelligence, where human input is not possible. The SoC fits in the palm of a hand, and includes CPUs, computational offloads, networking units, memory, I/O interfaces. The SoC is also compact and efficient, and are built to survive for years, millions or billions of kilometres away from the nearest repair technician. Once certified for spaceflight, NASA will incorporate the chip into computing hardware for many of NASA’s orbiters, rovers, crewed habitats and deep space missions.
