3 ms·
Note, also, that just being on a planetary surface significantly reduces your radiation exposure even if the planet doesn't have magnetic fields. The body of t
by GlenTheMachine 3y ago
Note, also, that just being on a planetary surface significantly reduces your radiation exposure even if the planet doesn't have magnetic fields. The body of the planet shields you from the sun half the time. A thin atmosphere also has some effect.
In addition, being on a planetary surface greatly reduces the thermal cycling. In free space, the instantaneous thermal gradient on your spacecraft could be several hundred degrees, which the spacecraft either has to mitigate via thermal control or it just has to take; usually it will do some of both, so the electronics do need to survive a not insignificant thermal cycle.
You never get that on Mars. The planet is a huge heat sink.
- rkagerer 3y agoHow about during the journey in space, where there's more radiation? Was any shielding provided during transport? (e.g. even from the position of sensitive components relative to the rest of the mothership). I notice the two flight control MCU's connected to the Qualcomm CPU were still radiation-hardened.
- GlenTheMachine 3y agoSure, there's some radiation, and it's shielded to some extent. But 10 mm of aluminum isn't that great at radiation shielding. The big difference is that deep space missions stay in space for decades. The rovers were in space for about a year.