Satellite Technology Feature Article
February 25, 2010
NASA Selects BAE Systems' Space Computers
By Deepika Mala, TMCnet Contributor
BAE Systems (News - Alert), a provider of computers capable of withstanding the radiation, temperature, vibration and other extremes encountered in space flight has announced that it has provided three of its space computers for NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.
According to BAE, NASA has selected the company's RAD750 and RAD6000 computers to handle data processing and to study the sun's influence on Earth and near-Earth space, in the harsh, high-radiation solar environment.
Large volumes of scientific data will be processed by the two RAD6000 radiation-hardened computers aboard NASA's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager payloads. Also, the computers will manage the satellite's directional orientation. Moreover, a RAD750 computer will run the software that will help keep the spacecraft in orbit.
'This is a mission that requires a high tolerance to the extreme conditions encountered near the sun. Our space computers were chosen because they have the flight heritage that shows they thrive in such conditions,' Vic Scuderi, manager of satellite electronics for BAE Systems, said. 'The images provided by the SDO will have 10 times better resolution than HD television.'
The first mission to be launched for NASA's 'Living With a Star' program, the SDO will address aspects of the sun and solar system that directly affect life on Earth. The SDO will study the origins of solar activity and how space weather derives from it. Measurements of the interior of the sun, the sun's magnetic field, the hot plasma of the solar corona, and the irradiance that creates the ionospheres of the planets will help scientists predict solar variations. Space weather can threaten astronauts, aircraft, satellite communications, navigation systems, and electrical power on Earth.
The latest version, the RAD750, was developed through a partnership among BAE Systems, the Air Force Research Laboratory (News - Alert) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The RAD6000 is the predecessor to the RAD750.
According to BAE, NASA has selected the company's RAD750 and RAD6000 computers to handle data processing and to study the sun's influence on Earth and near-Earth space, in the harsh, high-radiation solar environment.
Large volumes of scientific data will be processed by the two RAD6000 radiation-hardened computers aboard NASA's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager payloads. Also, the computers will manage the satellite's directional orientation. Moreover, a RAD750 computer will run the software that will help keep the spacecraft in orbit.
'This is a mission that requires a high tolerance to the extreme conditions encountered near the sun. Our space computers were chosen because they have the flight heritage that shows they thrive in such conditions,' Vic Scuderi, manager of satellite electronics for BAE Systems, said. 'The images provided by the SDO will have 10 times better resolution than HD television.'
The first mission to be launched for NASA's 'Living With a Star' program, the SDO will address aspects of the sun and solar system that directly affect life on Earth. The SDO will study the origins of solar activity and how space weather derives from it. Measurements of the interior of the sun, the sun's magnetic field, the hot plasma of the solar corona, and the irradiance that creates the ionospheres of the planets will help scientists predict solar variations. Space weather can threaten astronauts, aircraft, satellite communications, navigation systems, and electrical power on Earth.
The latest version, the RAD750, was developed through a partnership among BAE Systems, the Air Force Research Laboratory (News - Alert) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The RAD6000 is the predecessor to the RAD750.
In related news, BAE Systems has introduced new armor protected, high mobility and cost effective Caiman Multi-Theater Vehicle.
Deepika Mala is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Patrick Barnard
