

64 Bits in Space 5
HerringFlavoredFowl writes: "Older, slower RAD HARD chips have been the norm in space applications. Acording to this article it looks like MIPS is about to go 64 bits in the far fringes."
Hackers are just a migratory lifeform with a tropism for computers.
Re:Sales pitch-BFHD-The real news is at the bottom (Score:1)
And no, it looks sucky with bold.
Re:-40 C? (Score:1)
-40 C? (Score:1)
- Operating temperature of -40 to +85 degrees C
Now, call me an ignorant, but I thought the temperatures in outer space were considerably lower than -40 C. Does this means that they'll need some kind of heat insulation, or what?
Or maybe they're gonna overclock their CPUs, i dunno...
Sales pitch-BFHD-The real news is at the bottom (Score:1)
The real fun is at the bottom of the page:
Ariane lauched a NASA satellite? That's news!
mean temp is very low, but little heat transfer (Score:2)
The problem is that heat transfer in space is also very low, so heat buildup is one of the biggest issues in any spacecraft.
Heat is commonly transferred by three mechanisms; conduction, convection and radiation. In the vacuum of space, you get no conduction or convection, the only way you can get rid of heat is by radiation. So, it doesn't take too many electronics running to start worrying about overheating.
Thus, the shuttle flies with it's doors open to expose it's radiators and cool down. Satellites use various esoteric heat tubes and exchangers to remove heat and radiate it to space. Internal operating temperatues end up being -40 to +85 degrees C.