Wirt Atmar copied: :-)

> Radiation Hardening of Microelectronics Microchips -- the kind used in
> everything from personal computers to automobile electronics to breadmaking
> machines -- work fine in their intended environments. But if you try to
> operate one of these generic microchips in the presence of ionizing radiation,
> the kind that satellites encounter in outer space, for example, it will no
> longer function correctly. The ionizing radiation penetrates the protective
> packaging around the microchip and strikes the transistors in the circuit.
> This can change the chip's electrical parameters, adding extra electrical
> currents that shouldn't be there and altering the circuit's operations.

Yeah, I remember when that happened to Steve Austin when he went into
space the first time after getting his bionic limbs. Fortunately for
everyone else, his super-strong arms and legs didn't go flailing wildly,
which could have quickly killed everyone else and destroyed the space
ship, but instead began refusing to work at all.

[For those who don't know or remember, Steve Austin was the title
character of a Sci-Fci/Action TV show in the 1970's called "The Six
Million Dollar Man" (based on the 1972 novel "Cyborg" by Martin Caidin,
one of the best books of the genre, IMO). Played by Lee Majors, Austin
was a former NASA astronaut and test pilot who was given "bionic"
replacements many times more powerful than the "original equipment" when
he lost both legs, one arm and one eye in a test-flight "accident." He
subsequently became a (reluctant) special agent for the government. The
show was actually pretty good entertainment, especially if you liked
slo-mo effects. :-) ]

On a more realistic note, I've also heard that sun spots, because of the
massive radiation they throw our way, can sometimes cause the same kind
of interference with computer systems as described above. Should we be
looking into shielding for our computer data center? Anyone ever
research the cost of something like that? (Wirt? :-)

Patrick
--
Patrick Santucci
Technical Services Systems Programmer
KVI, a division of Seabury & Smith, Inc.
Visit our site! http://www.kvi-ins.com
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