Abstract Title
Memory Degradation Experiment on EagleSat 2
Faculty Mentor Name
Daniel White
Format Preference
Poster
Abstract
The Memory Degradation Experiment (MDE) is a scientific payload for EagleSat 2 CubeSat. The space environment is hostile to computer technologies, particularly the memory technologies which enable computation and storage of scientific data. Memory technologies are susceptible to errors caused by space radiation, and thus have been the focus of much flight and on-ground testing. The MDE seeks to address the lack of highly comparable error-rate data from flight tests for various kinds of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) computer memories. The MDE is comprised of an array of five types of COTS memories. Some of these memories, such as Flash and SRAM, have been in use for many decades and thus have well-known error rates. Others, such as FRAM and MRAM are much more recent developments and thus do not have as well-known error rates. However, memory flight tests are conducted in a variety of different orbits, and by extension radiation environments. Thus, attempting to establish relative error rates between different COTS memories is difficult as datasets from different flight tests are not directly comparable. By creating a comparable flight test dataset for the most used types of COTS memories, the MDE will provide spacecraft engineers with actionable engineering data, usable in spacecraft design and mission assurance.
- POSTER PRESENTATION
- ARIZONA SPACE GRANT AWARD
Memory Degradation Experiment on EagleSat 2
The Memory Degradation Experiment (MDE) is a scientific payload for EagleSat 2 CubeSat. The space environment is hostile to computer technologies, particularly the memory technologies which enable computation and storage of scientific data. Memory technologies are susceptible to errors caused by space radiation, and thus have been the focus of much flight and on-ground testing. The MDE seeks to address the lack of highly comparable error-rate data from flight tests for various kinds of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) computer memories. The MDE is comprised of an array of five types of COTS memories. Some of these memories, such as Flash and SRAM, have been in use for many decades and thus have well-known error rates. Others, such as FRAM and MRAM are much more recent developments and thus do not have as well-known error rates. However, memory flight tests are conducted in a variety of different orbits, and by extension radiation environments. Thus, attempting to establish relative error rates between different COTS memories is difficult as datasets from different flight tests are not directly comparable. By creating a comparable flight test dataset for the most used types of COTS memories, the MDE will provide spacecraft engineers with actionable engineering data, usable in spacecraft design and mission assurance.
- POSTER PRESENTATION
- ARIZONA SPACE GRANT AWARD