BEAM TIME USE - NASA/GSFC PROPOSES TO UTILIZE THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY CYCLOTRON FACILITY HEAVY ION IRRADIA…

Public award description

BEAM TIME USE - NASA/GSFC PROPOSES TO UTILIZE THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY CYCLOTRON FACILITY HEAVY ION IRRADIATION FACILITY FOR EVALUATION OF SPACE FLIGHT HARDWARE FOR A PERIOD OF 48 HOURS. TESTING WILL BE CONDUCTED FROM OCTOBER 6, 2011 THROUGH OCTOBER 8, 2011. TESTING MUST BE COMPLETED DURING THIS TIME FRAME SUCH THAT RADIATION ENGINEERING CAN DELIVER A TIMELY DISPOSITION OF THE RADIATION PERFORMANCE OF CANDIDATE ELECTRONICS TESTED. DELAYS TO THIS SCHEDULE WILL IMPACT VARIOUS PROJECTS SCHEDULES, SOME OF WHICH ARE APPROACHING OR ALREADY IN PHASE D. NASA/GSFC DESIRES HEAVY ION BEAM TIME AND RELATED SUPPORT SERVICES IN SUPPORT OF THE MARS ATMOSPHERE AND VOLATILE EVOLUTION (MAVEN) AND THE LUNAR ATMOSPHERE AND DUST ENVIRONMENT EXPLORER (LADEE) MISSIONS. SEVERAL SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS EXIST: 1. A RANGE OF TURNED ION ENERGIES APPROPRIATE FOR SINGLE-EVENT EFFECTS TESTS OF PACKAGED DEVICES (BOARD LEVEL AND DEVICE LEVEL ELECTRONICS) SHALL EXIST. THIS RANGE SHALL BE BETWEEN 15-40 MEV/AMU. DEGRADERS MAY BE USED TO GAIN LOWER ENERGIES THAN 15 MEV/AMU. 2. TESTING SHALL BE CONDUCTED IN-AIR AS OPPOSED TO VACUUM WITH A FULL RANGE OF TILT ANGLES ACCESSIBLE FROM +90 DEGREES TO -90 DEGREES. 3. HEAVY-ION BEAM STRUCTURE SHALL BE NEAR-CONTINUOUS TO FACILITATE DYNAMIC TESTING FOR SINGLE-EVENT EFFECTS. 4. BEAM ACCURACY ACROSS THE IRRADIATION AREA SHALL HAVE LESS THAN 10% VARIANCE TO FACILITATE ACCURATE PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION RESULTS AND PRE-FLIGHT PREDICTIONS. 5. NASA/GSFC SHALL BE THE PRIME USER OF THE PROTON BEAM DURING TEST CAMPAIGNS IN ORDER TO PROVIDE CONTROLLED PARTICLE INTENSITIES (BEAM FLUX) AND KNOWN BEAM STRUCTURE TO ALLOW FOR PROPER POST-IRRADIATION DATA ANALYSIS. A. SHARED USER FACILITIES PROVIDES UNCERTAINTIES AND INCREASED RISK FOR RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSES. 6. FACILITY SHALL HAVE ION RANGE IN SILICON UP TO AT LEAST 3.5 MM. THERE ARE ONLY A FEW FACILITIES AVAILABLE IN THE UNITED STATES THAT PROVIDE ACCELERATED HEAVY ION BEAMS USED FOR SINGLE-EVENT EFFECTS TESTING OF THE KIND REQUIRED HERE.