Description

Basically, I’m concerned that the bus connector connection is pretty fragile. The bus connector is surface-mount where traditionally, many are through-hole. I’m afraid that under vibration, some pins could rip off. I would like to know if other satellites have used surface-mount bus connectors and if they were successful in doing so.

These are the links to the connectors we are using

• male
• female

Tasks

A list of sequential tasks for the chapter - the chapter is complete when all tasks are complete

• [x] Become familiar with the connector
• [x] Read over the NASA State of the Art 2024 Report
• [x] Make notes on anything you see on the report about PCB-to-PCB interconnects
• [x] There is definitely the chance that the NASA report won’t have a detailed section on these so you might have to look at external sources. (It will still be good reading to look at the NASA report though)

Notes

Space for research notes, open questions, progress logs

Any notes regarding PCB-to-PCB connects would be awesome (or even anything you find interesting).

• What is NASA’s approach? (Through-Hole vs. Surface-Mount)
• Section 8.3.1: PC/104 Standards are used for CubeSats
• PC/104-Express, the most recent iteration, uses surface-mount bus connectors, not through-hole
• It should be noted that the NASA article is not explicit in whether it uses through-hole or surface-mount bus connections (only that PC/104 is the “industry standard”, referring to satellites) and that PC/104 standards are for 104- and 120-pin connections (I was not able to find how many pins FINCH uses)