Engineers from the University of Florida in collaboration with NASA, WITH, Vanguard Automation, AIM Photonics and Germany's Heinrich Hertz Fraunhofer Institute launched experimental photonic chips with artificial intelligence to the International Space Station. The flight took place on board the Japanese cargo ship HTV-XI, opening a new stage in the research of semiconductor technologies in space.
The mission is part of NASA's MISSE program (Materials International Space Station Experiment), which studies the behavior of materials and devices in the harsh conditions of low Earth orbit.
University of Florida research aims to test the stability and efficiency of next-generation photonic semiconductor technologies in space. This is an important step towards creating faster and more energy-efficient computing systems, able to work in extreme conditions, such as radiation or temperature fluctuations.
Launched photonic chips will investigate the effect of cosmic radiation and atomic oxygen on the stability of their operation. The results of the experiment will help determine the potential of photonic technologies for use in satellite communications, autonomous space vehicles and high-precision sounding systems.
The chip prototypes were created at the University of Florida's Nanoscience Research Center in collaboration with Vanguard Automation, AIM Photonics та Fraunhofer HHI. The obtained data should become the basis for the development of more sustainable and energy-saving computing systems for space and defense applications.
Source: https://phys.org