here's why it's so hard to put a computer into SPACE - NASA HPE Spacebourne 2
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Thanks KIOXIA for sponsoring today’s video!
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Check out KIOXIA's SAS and NVMe SSDs below! americas.kioxia.com americas.kioxia.com americas.kioxia.com It’s really hard to put a computer into space… so hard in fact that laptops on the international space station are treated as effectively disposable. So when the folks at HPE wanted to put a SERVER on the ISS, people were a bit skeptical… and it turned out even with the help of KIOXIA’s fast and reliable storage devices, to be harder than they thought. HPE Spaceborne 2 Project: hpe.com The HPE Technology Now Podcast: youtube.com NASA’s “Houston, We Have A Podcast”: nasa.gov HPE’s January 29, 2024 Blog: hpe.com Discuss on the forum: linustechtips.com ► GET MERCH: lttstore.com ► GET EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ON FLOATPLANE: lmg.gg ► SPONSORS, AFFILIATES, AND PARTNERS: lmg.gg ► EQUIPMENT WE USE TO FILM LTT: lmg.gg ► OUR WAN PODCAST GEAR: lmg.gg FOLLOW US --------------------------------------------------- Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: @LinusTech Instagram: @linustech TikTok: @linustech Twitch: twitch.tv MUSIC CREDIT --------------------------------------------------- Intro: Laszlo - Supernova Video Link: youtube.com iTunes Download Link: itunes.apple.com Artist Link: soundcloud.com Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High Video Link: youtube.com Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi Artist Link: youtube.com Intro animation by MBarek Abdelwassaa @mbarek_abdel Monitor And Keyboard by vadimmihalkevich / CC BY 4.0 geni.us Mechanical RGB Keyboard by BigBrotherECE / CC BY 4.0 geni.us Mouse Gamer free Model By Oscar Creativo / CC BY 4.0 geni.us CHAPTERS --------------------------------------------------- 0:00 PCs in space??? 2:09 Spaceborne 2 & Data Transmission 4:43 Checking out the servers 5:50 Storage Config and Hot-swap demo 10:33 Express Rack 12:42 Networking 16:16 Conclusion
The video opens by establishing how harsh space is for computers, listing radiation, microgravity, and strict power and cooling constraints as the core challenges. It notes that laptops on the International Space Station (ISS) are treated as disposable due to their limited lifespan in the harsh environment, setting the stage for why a more robust solution was needed. The Spaceborne 1 project from 2017 is introduced as NASA, HP Enterprise, and Kioxia’s initial attempt to create an extended-edge computing server for the ISS, with a lesson learned about radiation-induced failures in SSD super capacitors. Spaceborne 2 launches, aiming to move beyond a proof of concept toward practical on-station data analysis and AI, and it is highlighted that this system includes substantial storage, exceeding 130 terabytes, to support scientific workflows and backups. The host then outlines the broader design philosophy: balancing performance, reliability, and power efficiency within the ISS’s constrained power budget, which influences hardware choices, cooling schemes, and networking.
Topics · space technology · edge computing · space hardware · storage systems · aerospace engineering
Questions answered
- What makes spaceborne computing so challenging for on-orbit hardware?
- Spaceborne computing faces radiation, microgravity, limited power, and cooling constraints, requiring robust hardware selection, redundancy, and specialized cooling and networking solutions.
- Why was SAS storage chosen over NVMe for the high-speed bulk storage in Spaceborne 2?
- SAS was chosen for its balance of performance, reliability, and power efficiency within the ISS power budget, which is critical when sharing energy across two servers.
- How is data transmission managed between the ISS and Earth in this setup?
- The ISS uses a private link with limited bandwidth and periodic downtime; data transmission is buffered and sent when the connection is available, with a practical emphasis on reliability over raw speed.
- What cooling methods are used in the space lockers, and why?
- A combination of air cooling (on-board the ISS) and water cooling with heat exchangers is used to handle the heat from servers, because space has limited air for traditional cooling and high energy loads require efficient dissipation.