Intel, DOE work on radiation-proof chip
The chip giant and the Department of Energy reportedly are collaborating to make a chip that would help satellites withstand bursts of radiation.
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Intel will provide the Deparment of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories with existing technology to make "radiation-hardened" equipment, according to the Associated Press. Sandia is a DOE lab that deals with nuclear weapons technology.
Nuclear explosions release a burst of electromagnetic radiation and radioactive particles, and military planners long have known that in space, that cascade could render satellites useless, crippling a country's telecommunications infrastructure and military communication network.
The technology deal will be announced tomorrow by officials from Intel, DOE, NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Defense Department's National Reconnaissance Office.