"Space Shuttle uses Targa 6U VME SCSI Flash Disk"

Engineers at NASA, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida needed a rugged 6U VME based mass storage sub system for their new health-monitoring system aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

They found their answer in the Targa 6U VME SCSI Flash Disk, with 400 megabyte capacity. The Targa VME SCSI Flash Disk was able to perform in NASA's rugged, conduction-cooled VME chassis environment.

The new shuttle health-monitoring system first flew on Discovery last October on the mission that returned John Glenn to space. It uses special sensors to track hazardous gases and other conditions aboard the shuttle that could pose danger to the spacecraft or crew.

"This is a fast-paced project, and we didn't find a lot out there that would meet our environmental needs," says Roselle Hanson, chief engineer of Discovery's Integrated Vehicle Health Management System - better known as IVHM.

"We wanted rugged, conduction-cooled boards that were easily integratable, without a unique interface" Hanson explains. "We had experience with SCSI and VME in a ground chassis, and we had no issues when we went to integrate these boards."

Hanson says that she and her engineering colleagues insisted on a VME solution "because it is the most mature technology for a rack-and-stack system."

Note: The above Press Release appeared in the January, 1999 issue of Military and Aerospace Electronics Magazine. For more information, contact Targa Electronics Systems at their marketing offices; phone: 704-708-4720.