Microelectronic Hybrid, Discrete Command, EOS

This artifact is a microelectronic hybrid signals processing device designed for use on the NASA EOS AM-1 earth observation satellite.

To meet weight and space constraints on the spacecraft, the device used layering to achieve complex function in a small size . Beneath the visible surface of electrical devices and connections are several additional conducting and nonconducting layers. The buried conducting layers provide additional pathways for connecting the electrical devices on the hybrid's top layer. The completed hybrid is an ingenious puzzle in which nearly one hundred chips and devices are integrated through more than a thousand connections. The gold-colored wire pins on the sides of the case connect the hybrid to a circuit board or electronic device.

This design represented the state of the art in miniaturization for such hybrids as of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Lockheed Martin donated this artifact to the Museum in 1998.