Implementation of the NASA modular computer with LSI functional characters

Abstract

The NASA Electronics Research Center (ERC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has undertaken a broad program to satisfy flight computer system requirements for future missions, including versatility and long term reliability. Specific attention to these requirements is necessary because flight qualified aerospace computers and even some still under development, have been designed for increased computational speed and arithmetic capability, but not for the long life reliability and application flexibility that will be required for future space missions. For example, the mean time between failure (MTBF) of available aerospace computers lies in the range of 2,000 to 5,000 hours, whereas long space missions will require an MTBF of 10 hours.