SERDES Communications Circuitry Is Radiation-Hardened For
ISS
The space industry’s first
radiation hardened electronic component for communication systems,
which improves the speed of serial data communication fifty-fold
over existing space electronics, has been selected to upgrade
communication systems on the International Space Station. Honeywell
made that announcement, along with others, at the International
Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, CO.
CERDES Commuications System
Honeywell’s SERDES Quad Redundant Serializer /
Deserializer will be launched on NASA’s space shuttle in
August 2010. The company says the SERDES capability can be embedded
into an HX5000 Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or
used as a standalone component in a system built by an electronics
integrator. It allows significantly higher communication rates, up
to 3.125 gigabytes per second per channel. Honeywell has
achieved production upgrade of the SERDES standard product
– which is available for flight program use today – and
submitted the requirements to obtain a Qualified Manufacturers
Listing (QML).
“Honeywell's SERDES standard product is an industry first,
providing commercial and military space satellite operators
with faster, more reliable data communications,” said Dave
Douglass, Honeywell vice president, Space. “This is the first
multi-channel SERDES device for severe radiation environments, and
will allow satellite manufacturers to significantly increase system
network capacity.”
The company claims that the benefits from the Quad Redundant
SERDES Transceiver include much higher data throughput while
dramatically reducing power, board and cable routing and system
complexity.
GPS Inertial Measurment Units
Honeywell also announced that it has been selected to supply newly
designed Inertial Measurement Units (IMU), used to accurately
position satellites in orbit, for the United States Air Force
(USAF) Global Positioning Satellite III Program, in a contract
worth $45 million.
“Honeywell designed new IMUs to respond to the demands of
today’s spacecraft with more reliable units that will extend
satellite missions,” said Dave Douglass, Honeywell vice
president, Space, Missiles and Munitions. “The advanced
technology IMU utilizes Honeywell’s solid state Fiber Optic
Gyro technology to assure higher accuracy and longer
life.”
The USAF Global Positioning System provides precise timing and
positioning information for military and civil users. The GPS III
system, scheduled to begin launching in 2014, will provide
additional signals to improve accuracy as well as anti-jamming
measures crucial for the U.S. military. The new Honeywell IMU was
developed for space applications that must survive harsh natural
and man-made environments while providing extremely precise
measurement capability and long mission life. This GPS III
application represents the first in a family of IMUs developed by
Honeywell targeted for the commercial and military market.
Landsat-5 Satellite Extension
The company's final announcement for Tuesday was that it's flight
operations support team for Landsat-5 has completed the
mission’s 26th year in orbit, well beyond the planned
three-year mission-life, delivering data for the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS).
NASA launched Landsat-5 in March 1984, scheduled for retrieval
by the space shuttle three years later. The retrieval did not occur
and 26 years later, Landsat-5 is still flying, capturing images of
the Earth’s global landmass, coastal boundaries, and coral
reefs. The satellite has provided more than 700,000 images of the
Earth’s land surface for scientists.
“The Honeywell flight engineers make heroic efforts on a
regular basis to keep the mission alive,” said Tegan Collier,
Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc. (HTSI), manager of Landsat
Flight Operations. “The satellite was well-built, but
it’s also been well-flown. Honeywell has shown the expertise
required to extract mission value out of the spacecraft well beyond
expectations.”
Honeywell provides flight operations support for Landsat-5 for
the USGS from the control center in HTSI’s headquarters in
Columbia, MD., and a back-up operations center at the nearby
Goddard Space Flight Center. Honeywell is working with the USGS to
extend the Landsat-5 mission to 2013.