Bench Talk

New Tech Tuesdays: Space the Harshest Frontier

On March 14, 2023 in All, New Tech Tuesdays, RF, Sensors by Rudy Ramos

Space is a hostile environment; the extreme temperatures and high radiation levels that permeate the infinite vacuum pose a unique challenge to humans and spacecraft alike.

How to Choose Connectors Suited for Space

On November 30, 2020 in All, Connectors by Harwin

A special set of considerations and extra planning are required when engineering space designs. We will discuss these considerations and how to select secure, highly reliable connectors that can withstand the demands of space.

Tagged With: connectors, cubesat, electronics, gecko-sl, harwin, high reliability, satellites, secure, space

Removing Obstacles to Space Travel

On July 19, 2019 in All, RF by Barry Manz

Bounce radio signals off the moon? Unthinkable! Well it certainly was in 1946. Hardly anyone knew much about a program called “Project Diana”, and many still don’t today. This is a shame, as the project and its participants removed one of the greatest obstacles to space travel.

Tagged With: Project Diana, Space

A Look at Space Stations of the Past, Present, and Future

On April 19, 2019 in All by Mike Parks

The exploration and long-term settlement of our solar system will be entirely different from European colonization. The extreme environment of space, the vast distances, lack of indigenous resources, and the act of leaving Earth’s surface will present challenges unique to our “star-ward” journeys.

Tagged With: Harsh Environments, Space

7 things to know about spacecraft subsystems before your next trip to Mars

On October 24, 2016 in All by Texas Instruments

When I was young, as most aspiring engineers do, I dreamed of going to outer space, specifically Mars. And I thought the only way to get there was aboard the NASA space shuttle. The cancellation of the shuttle program crushed that boyhood dream of mine, or so I thought. The recent commercialization of satellites and launch services, that may someday provide space exploration, has kept that dream alive for all of us. With some new innovation and the decades of experience out there I believe they will be able to make this dream a reality.

Tagged With: space

The Internet of Space: Intelligence for What You Least Expect, When You Least Expect It

On September 27, 2016 in IoT by Lynnette Reese

Hundreds of femtosatellites, called Sprites, were shipped into space on the first KickSat, which started as a KickStarter project to launch what amounts to personal satellites. Andy’s vision of the femtosat includes an engine for his IoS vision driven by the Intel® Quark™ D2000 microcontroller with an ultra-low-power core running at 32 MHz (and currently undergoing space qualification.)

Tagged With: Intel, Internet of Things, IoT, Quark, Space

Harsh Environments: Governed by Murphy's Law

On August 4, 2016 in All by Arden Henderson

What is a harsh environment? It might be a holiday dinner with the polar-opposite-political relatives, especially if later trapped in the living room by a crackling fireplace with the distant uncle who sends four chain emails a day. But, today we're talking about harsh environments for electronics. Electronics Hell.

Tagged With: Electronics, Harsh Environments, Space

Space, The Harshest Frontier

On June 15, 2015 in All by David Fambrough

What makes for a harsh environment? For a person, that’s an inhospitable set of conditions that can cause bodily harm over a period of time. Space is one of the harshest environments you can imagine for human beings – even without monstrous alien predators. Pressure, or the lack of it, temperature, or the lack of it, high-energy particles, and radiation are just not very human-friendly. It’s a cold, dark place that lacks many of the creature comforts of home – like water and air.

Tagged With: Harsh Environments, Space

Mailing Address... The Moon

On June 3, 2015 in All by David Fambrough

Is there such a thing as moon stamps? What type of special mail truck would you need to carry mail to the moon? Think all of this is impossible, the stuff of science fiction? Well, there’s a first for everything. The company that’s making this a reality isn’t FedEx, DHL or UPS. Nor is it the U.S. postal service. Instead, it’s Google Lunar XPRIZE MILESTONE winner, Astrobotic.

Tagged With: Astrobotic, Griffin Lander, MoonMail, Space

From Bi-planes to Space Debris: Digging through NASA Archives

On May 22, 2015 in All by Lynnette Reese

What engineer has not had to produce a report at some time in their life? I was researching open architecture systems and stumbled upon this: the archive of reports from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics housed in the NASA Technical Reports Server.

Tagged With: NASA, Space

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