Advanced technologies for a command and data handling subsystem in a "better, faster, cheaper" environment

Abstract

NASA's Small Spacecraft Technology Initiative (SSTI) is developing two lightweight, "pathfinder" spacecraft, Lewis and Clark, to demonstrate a better faster, cheaper approach to spacecraft development and to gain valuable space science and technology data. In the command and data handling subsystem, SSTI Clark will demonstrate the implementation of seven advanced technologies in a "better, cheaper, faster" environment. The seven advanced technologies are: (1) 3-D Cube packaging, (2) 16 Mbit DRAM, (3) integrated avionics, (4) multifunctional serial I/O bus, (5) 32-bit processor, (6) composite housing, and (7) radiation hardened field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). This paper will discuss each technology (including the achieved performance metrics) and how these technologies were implemented using the "better, cheaper, faster" methods employed for the SSTI mission.