Cold Electronics for Lunar Missions

NASA’s goal of developing crewed and robotic lunar installations has created a need for cold capable electronic parts, subsystems, and systems that can operate in the lunar thermal environment (typically -233 degrees Celsius (°C) or below to +125 ℃ ambient). This assessment was commissioned to evaluate the state of cold capable electronic and packaging technologies, perform a gap analysis against the continuous use of these electronics with minimal or no thermal management on the lunar surface, provide NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) guidance on the qualification of cold electronics, and to give NESC recommendations for the development and utilization of cold capable electronics. The assessment did not focus on the lunar radiation environment.