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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.



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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.


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