2 ms·
Wow, thanks for the TIL. Suddenly I understand the fuss about the early processors (eg, the Forth ones) that went into spacecraft in the 70s and 80s. It wasn't
by exikyut 8y ago
Wow, thanks for the TIL.
Suddenly I understand the fuss about the early processors (eg, the Forth ones) that went into spacecraft in the 70s and 80s. It wasn't just the architecture that was good, it was the electrical/physical design that was noteworthy (which, to excuse the terrible pun, the CPUs are still writing home about :D).
Heh, I wonder how much the ground development boards cost? Probably way too much to find one affordably on eBay, say...
Also - how do you figure out if a processor is going to last for ages? How do you test it?!
Hmm, I get the impression some spacecraft probably have full failover capability as well.
And now I wonder what systems use CPUs in lockstep _and_ have full independent failover...
- GlenTheMachine 8y agoA ground development board would be on the order of $50,000, give or take. You'll also need a chassis and power supply of course. “Also - how do you figure out if a processor is going to last for ages?” Really big semiconductor junctions help. Low heat production also helps. And then there's this thing called “heritage”. If it worked on the last fifteen missions, odds are decent it'll work on the sixteenth. Many spacecraft have fully redundant processors boards. Whether that helps you depends on whether you think chip failures are statistically uncorrelated. Which they are, sometimes. But not if there is a design flaw or manufacturing defect.