>The bulletin recommends careful component placement, finite element analysis, controlled solder fillet height, thorough inspection, and functional thermal shock testing to mitigate flexure-induced cracking risks in ceramic body components on printed circuit boards.
That seems like a lot of extra incurred top-line cost just to be able to continue the progression in raw component-production cost from negligible toward ultra-negligible.
Eventually the math turns into something where you can better afford components at over 10x the "cost per thousand" if they were only available in a fully robust form factor. But the factories can't afford to make them like that any more. This is much more noticeable when you don't even need 1000 pieces.
Odds are that components designed for short-term disposability first and foremost are not ideal for every NASA project.
Realistically, not everything has to be like Voyager, but it would be good if the entire spectrum of reliability was still within reach.
>The bulletin recommends careful component placement, finite element analysis, controlled solder fillet height, thorough inspection, and functional thermal shock testing to mitigate flexure-induced cracking risks in ceramic body components on printed circuit boards.
That seems like a lot of extra incurred top-line cost just to be able to continue the progression in raw component-production cost from negligible toward ultra-negligible.
Eventually the math turns into something where you can better afford components at over 10x the "cost per thousand" if they were only available in a fully robust form factor. But the factories can't afford to make them like that any more. This is much more noticeable when you don't even need 1000 pieces.
Odds are that components designed for short-term disposability first and foremost are not ideal for every NASA project.
Realistically, not everything has to be like Voyager, but it would be good if the entire spectrum of reliability was still within reach.