ABSTRACT
Electronics in space vehicles face a host of challenges from their harsh operating environment. Extremely wide temperature ranges and dangerous levels of cosmic and trapped radiation can cause catastrophic damage to unprotected circuitry. Traditionally, “warm-boxes” or “electronics vaults” have provided the shielding and heating necessary to protect crucial components. Unfortunately, these solutions come with a high cost in weight, volume, power, and complexity (Figure 71.1). Two JPL workers placing the radiation vault onto NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The vault has titanium walls and weighs about 500 pounds. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315216911/9fc10d54-04ca-4e8b-af21-9892cbc5b25d/content/fig71_1.jpg"/> (From NASA/JPL-Caltech/LMSS, Setting up Juno’s radiation vault, 2010.)
