Why develop low power electronics?
Electronics mass, size, and power consumption are important considerations for overall spacecraft design. Generally, they are tied together. The more power that a system needs the bigger and more massive it (and its power source) will have to be. Also, the more power a system needs, the quicker it will fail in times of low power, such as when a solar-powered spacecraft gets far from the Sun. Deep Space 1 includes tests of two microelectronics technologies and a mechanical/electronic experiment. These new developments are intended to contribute to the achievement of NASA’s vision of spacecraft in the future.
