A Radiation Hardened Spacecraft Mass Memory System

The functional design of a Radiation Hardened Spacecraft Mass Memory System (RH/SMMS) is described. This system is configured around a 1 megabit memory device and incorporates various system and circuit design features to achieve radiation hardness. The system is modular and storage capacities of 16 to 32 megabits are achievable within modest size, weight, and power constraints. Estimates of physical characteristics (size, weight, and power) are presented for a 16 Mbit system. The RH/SMMS is organized in a disk-like architecture and offers the spacecraft designer several unique benefits such as: reduced software cost, increased autonomy and survivability, increased functionality and increased fault tolerance.