

The Age of Asteroids - iKenshu
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/age-asteroids?int-cid=mod-latest

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HillRat
One statement that stood out to me was Chris Lewicki's dig at NASA's "twenty
year old computer" running Curiosity, with Lewicki adding the usual jab about
his iPhone having more processing power.

The RAD750 is based on a 1996-era PowerPC design, so the statement is
technically true, but as far as I know it's basically the state-of-the-art in
rad-hardened processors -- it's the same processor used in Boeing's 787 FMC,
for example. (SST did just ship a rad-hard M0, which is kind of neat.)

Lewicki's not just talking off-the-cuff here -- he's one of a few people
actually qualified to opine on spacecraft engineering -- but I wonder, what
does he think should be used in place of the hugely-expensive, arguably-
antiquated but undoubtedly robust systems currently in use?

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cryptoz
NASA and other space agencies usually build a single satellite for a single
task, and it will cost $1B+. Chris Lewicki and other "newspace" companies are
suggesting making cheap satellites, but lots of them. If one fails, maybe you
lose $1M but you certainly don't lose $1B.

This gap makes it possible to take risks and use newer hardware, specifically
hardware that has not been radiation-hardened or even tested in orbit.

~~~
hga
Sounds like that's a fundamental risk assessment that needs to be made ASAP.
If you're talking $1 million satellites, and this denigrated state of the art
most powerful rad hard CPU board goes for a reported $200K, then if the non-
tested, non-rad hard (and don't forget temperature extremes), more powerful
CPUs just don't work, or don't work for certain missions, you need to find
that out.

~~~
Retric
These systems are not designed by idiots.

Normal CPU's don't last long enough in space to be all that useful for
satellites. And even for profit telecom companies stick with radiation
hardened CPU’s so it's not like this is a case of 'military' over engineering.

~~~
hga
As far as I could tell, the low budget amateur radio types also use rad hard
CPUs in their satellites.

So, what's Mr. Lewicki's alternative?

~~~
hga
Here is SpaceX's:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8746788](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8746788)

~~~
Retric
SpaceX does not need radiation hardening for rockets which are only briefly in
space. That's hardly the equivalent of satellites which need to be in space
for years.

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erickhill
The most surprising single fact from this article, in my opinion, was to learn
that Queen's Brian May is an astrophysicist! That fact alone distracted me
slightly while reading the rest, which I also found to be interesting.

