Go offline with the Player FM app!
Space Technology – #36
Manage episode 223253849 series 1443495
Space requires new technologies. Much like the space race of the 1950s, engineers are feverishly working to gain a competitive advantage. Mark Lombardi sits down to explore rad hardening, thermal vacuum chambers, space mining, CubeSats, and battery technology.
Mark Lombardi – 25 years at HP/Agilent/Keysight. He worked for RT logic for a few years, where he got into space.
2:00 – Your odds of survival getting to space are better than getting to the top of Everest.
2:30 – Space mining from the Asteroid belt has the potential to create the worlds first trillionaire.
3:20 – We need to establish manufacturing in space. For example, what if you manufactured satellites on the moon instead of on earth?
4:00 – The main driver is price-per-pound
6:10 – The Space Force – it sounds a little silly at first but is very reasonable when you take a closer look.
7:45 – How do you test objects bound for space?
8:30 – Space is transitioning from government-only to commercial. Businesses are starting to explore how to add value to society and make a profit from space.
9:15 – Phased arrays, reusable rockets, LEO satellites are all changing space technology.
10:00 – Low earth orbit satellites have much lower delay. Geosynchronous satellites have a 250 ms propagation delay.
This has interesting implications for 5G – that 250 ms latency is too long for 5G requirements. So, LEO satellites are what will be used.
12:00 – Using LEO satellites will be deployed in force instead of as singles, as mentioned in the Weather Cubesat podcast.
13:45 – Ghana launched their own satellite, which is a huge step. They eventually won’t be dependent on others for their space access. And, they can do specialized things for reasonable prices.
15:00 – Announcements – we haven’t podcasted in a long time, sorry! We are switching to 1x per month
16:45 – Radiation hardening for electronics, sometimes called electronics hardening. Historically, you had to plan for a long life in a satellite. Now, you don’t have to.
17:30 – It’s also hard to get a rad hardened cutting-edge technology.
18:00 – LEO satellites get less radiation, so it’s less of a problem. And, since they are cheaper, you can build in an expected mortality rate.
19:00 – You can also rev hardware faster, allowing you to use newer technology. Think about imagers, the technology has moved a long way in seven years.
19:55 – Space is cold. Space is a vacuum. So, to test our gear you have to reproduce that on earth. To do that, we use special chambers.
20:50 – Thermal vacuum chambers (T vac) are used to test space objects. Automotive parts are actually very resilient to temperature changes and can be leveraged into space designs.
21:30 – What happens to electronics in space? The vacuum is a bigger challenge than the temperature changes.
23:30 – To get more bandwidth, we have to increase frequency. This leads to attenuation in the air and in cables. Some designers are switching to waveguides.
25:00 – With modular test equipment, you could potentially have test gear that can survive in space.
27:00 – What is the current and projected size of the space industry?
28:10 – What batteries are used in space? What factors into battery decisions? – Lithium ion batteries work well in space, and are used when we can charge them with solar energy.
28:40 – Deep space exploration uses all sorts of obscure battery technology.
29:10 – Electronic propulsion
30:05 – Over 150V, things get interesting. The breakdown voltage is different in space than it is on earth. So, designers have to be very careful.
38 episodes
Manage episode 223253849 series 1443495
Space requires new technologies. Much like the space race of the 1950s, engineers are feverishly working to gain a competitive advantage. Mark Lombardi sits down to explore rad hardening, thermal vacuum chambers, space mining, CubeSats, and battery technology.
Mark Lombardi – 25 years at HP/Agilent/Keysight. He worked for RT logic for a few years, where he got into space.
2:00 – Your odds of survival getting to space are better than getting to the top of Everest.
2:30 – Space mining from the Asteroid belt has the potential to create the worlds first trillionaire.
3:20 – We need to establish manufacturing in space. For example, what if you manufactured satellites on the moon instead of on earth?
4:00 – The main driver is price-per-pound
6:10 – The Space Force – it sounds a little silly at first but is very reasonable when you take a closer look.
7:45 – How do you test objects bound for space?
8:30 – Space is transitioning from government-only to commercial. Businesses are starting to explore how to add value to society and make a profit from space.
9:15 – Phased arrays, reusable rockets, LEO satellites are all changing space technology.
10:00 – Low earth orbit satellites have much lower delay. Geosynchronous satellites have a 250 ms propagation delay.
This has interesting implications for 5G – that 250 ms latency is too long for 5G requirements. So, LEO satellites are what will be used.
12:00 – Using LEO satellites will be deployed in force instead of as singles, as mentioned in the Weather Cubesat podcast.
13:45 – Ghana launched their own satellite, which is a huge step. They eventually won’t be dependent on others for their space access. And, they can do specialized things for reasonable prices.
15:00 – Announcements – we haven’t podcasted in a long time, sorry! We are switching to 1x per month
16:45 – Radiation hardening for electronics, sometimes called electronics hardening. Historically, you had to plan for a long life in a satellite. Now, you don’t have to.
17:30 – It’s also hard to get a rad hardened cutting-edge technology.
18:00 – LEO satellites get less radiation, so it’s less of a problem. And, since they are cheaper, you can build in an expected mortality rate.
19:00 – You can also rev hardware faster, allowing you to use newer technology. Think about imagers, the technology has moved a long way in seven years.
19:55 – Space is cold. Space is a vacuum. So, to test our gear you have to reproduce that on earth. To do that, we use special chambers.
20:50 – Thermal vacuum chambers (T vac) are used to test space objects. Automotive parts are actually very resilient to temperature changes and can be leveraged into space designs.
21:30 – What happens to electronics in space? The vacuum is a bigger challenge than the temperature changes.
23:30 – To get more bandwidth, we have to increase frequency. This leads to attenuation in the air and in cables. Some designers are switching to waveguides.
25:00 – With modular test equipment, you could potentially have test gear that can survive in space.
27:00 – What is the current and projected size of the space industry?
28:10 – What batteries are used in space? What factors into battery decisions? – Lithium ion batteries work well in space, and are used when we can charge them with solar energy.
28:40 – Deep space exploration uses all sorts of obscure battery technology.
29:10 – Electronic propulsion
30:05 – Over 150V, things get interesting. The breakdown voltage is different in space than it is on earth. So, designers have to be very careful.
38 episodes
All episodes
×Welcome to Player FM!
Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.