South Africa - Flag South Africa

Incoterms:DDU
Duty, customs fees and taxes are collected at time of delivery.

Please confirm your currency selection:

US Dollars
Free shipping on most orders over $150 (USD)
All major credit cards accepted

Euros
Free shipping on most orders over 150 € (EUR)
All major credit cards accepted

South African Rand
Free shipping on most orders over R2 000 (ZAR)
American Express not accepted as a method of payment

British Pounds
Free shipping on most orders over £150 (GBP)
All major credit cards accepted

Bench Talk for Design Engineers

Bench Talk

rss

Bench Talk for Design Engineers | The Official Blog of Mouser Electronics


Space, The Harshest Frontier
On June 15, 2015 in All by David Fambrough
David Fambrough
(You can listen to the story here, courtesy Third Rock Radio)

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.

Space is also one of the most difficult environments in which to design electronics systems.  Engineers must take into account harsh environmental conditions when creating new designs one day destine to travel among the stars.

Electrical circuits naturally don’t do well around water and they don’t like temperature extremes, ingress of particulates, electrostatic discharge, electromagnetic interference, vibrations and physical impact.

The specific environmental conditions in which the product will be used will affect the product specifications, and must be determined beforehand. You certainly don't want to be the one who gets called to go repair them.  Or do you?

To find out more about how Mouser Electronics is Empowering Innovation, visit
https://www.mouser.com/empowering-innovation/ and explore a range of topics out of this world.



« Back


David Fambrough is a technical writer for Mouser Electronics. He’s adamant that Lost in Space, Star Trek and James Bond have had a strong role in inspiring innovation and new design.


Related Posts

  • New Tech Tuesdays: Space the Harshest Frontier

    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.

  • Challenges of the Final Frontier

    Like many kids in my generation, I grew up with Star Trek. I’d watch the Original Series in re-runs and later followed the Next Generation in college. I found their take on space exploration fascinating and wondered if we would ever be able to explore the galaxy like Captain Kirk. In reality, space is one of the harshest environments that we as humans can face. Since we’re used to our oxygen-rich, solar-powered, radiation-shielded, one-g Earth, in order to explore the cold vacuum of outer space, we need a tremendous amount of ingenuity and determination.

  • Millimeter Wavelengths, The Next Wireless Frontier

    The use of very high frequencies for communication has always been "just around the corner," where, because of significant technical challenges, it's remained for 50 years. Now, faced with scarce spectrum available at lower frequencies, the wireless industry is determined to overcome those challenges.

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

    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.

  • New Tech Tuesdays: RF and EMI Solutions Built for Performance, Precision, and Protection

    See how Molex delivers high-performance RF terminations, attenuators, EMI connectors, and filter plates, empowering industries like aerospace, telecommunications, and medical with reliable signal integrity and interference protection.

  • Will Quantum Computing Become Commoditized?

    As quantum computing gains attention and as companies both small and large start getting involved, some believe the technology may eventually see the same commoditization as classical computers before them. Investors in the space, however, disagree.
14523 Views
Tagged With: Harsh Environments, Space

Search

Categories

Featured Authors

All Authors

Show More Show More
View Blogs by Date

Archives