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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Sandwich on January 08, 2005, 05:02:13 am

Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: Sandwich on January 08, 2005, 05:02:13 am: http://www.fortune.com/fortune/thisjustin/0,15704,1012859,00.html?cnn=yes

[q]Tin Whiskers: The Next Y2K Problem?
Engineers are racing to avert what could become a plague of short circuits in electrical and electronic devices.

In the cold vacuum of space, on a gleaming metal surface inside the Galaxy 4 communications satellite, tiny whiskers of tin grew in perfect stealth—until May 19, 1998, that is. That's when at least one of those whiskers bridged a pair of metal contacts in the satellite's control processor. The short circuit killed the satellite. Some 40 million pagers stopped working all over the country. Millions of dollars' worth of ATM and credit card transactions were interrupted. The $250 million satellite became, in the words of NASA engineer Henning Leidecker, "a doorstop in space."

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[/q]
Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: Nico on January 08, 2005, 06:34:16 am: whiskers? isn't that cat ... nose hair?
Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: beatspete on January 08, 2005, 06:53:15 am: Yeah, but you could use it as a general description for groups of thin strands coming out of a surface.

So this is happening to a lot of satellites?
Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: vyper on January 08, 2005, 07:24:43 am: How?!
Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: SKYNET-011 on January 08, 2005, 10:42:11 am: Chemistry? Tin particles in space?
Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: Kazan on January 08, 2005, 11:10:48 am: simple chemistry

i remember when the Gal4 went down, i had a pager and it's service was interrupted

//edit

during a meteorological emergency no less
Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: Lynx on January 08, 2005, 11:24:17 am: Quote
Originally posted by SKYNET-011
Chemistry?

I rather think it's because of the reduced gravity and low temeperatures myself.
Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: Sandwich on January 08, 2005, 04:26:01 pm: Quote
The phrase "tin whiskers" is pretty darned descriptive. Under just the right lighting, if you look at a metal surface with whiskers, it sparkles. No one can tell you the specific conditions under which whiskers may or may not grow, but it usually has something to do with surface tension. Just as you might move to the less crowded outside wall of a room packed with people, metal atoms move around and reform into whiskers as a way of easing tension—even the pressing of a bracket or screw.
Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: Nuke on January 08, 2005, 04:58:21 pm: stupid environmentalistys, they always gotta screw it up for everyone. lead is no more damaging to people as smoking, or driving in cars, or eating at mcdonalds or crossing the street in phoenix. its just phucking lunacy.
Title: Of Tin Whiskers and Lead
Post by: Unknown Target on January 08, 2005, 05:07:30 pm: But it's killing the enviroment when you dump it into massive landfills. Not only that, it leaks into water supplies and does even worse.