Challenges in Implementing Commercial Non-Volatile Memory in Spacecraft Solid State Recorders

SEAKR Engineering produces a variety of Solid State Data Storage and Processing Systems for use in applications from avionics to deep space. Power requirements for deep space missions require the use of non-volatile storage system. For the JPL X2000 program, SEAKR selected FLASH memory for use in the PCI NonVolatile Memory Slice (NVMS). While FLASH Memory offers a significant power advantage for interplanetary missions, there are several constraints intrinsic to FLASH memory devices that must be resolved by the system design. These features include; radiation sensitivity, slow read/write speed, bad memory blocks, limited write cycles, and electro-magnetic noise. This paper describes how these features were resolved and the tradeoffs that were made to accommodate the use of FLASH memory in an interplanetary environment.