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Good engineering is all about standards and specifications. When the products being produced are required for use in mission critical applications where they simply cannot afford to fail, and must work reliably all the time, every time, as is the case in space, these standards and specifications become even more critical. Lives may well depend upon it in fact and that’s where NASA Soldering Standards come in. The electronics manufacturing industry is also constantly evolving as new inventions and new ideas lead to new electronics requirements and this is particularly the case with the space and aerospace industries. NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has long been at the forefront of cutting edge electronics, especially in its space programs. In order to provide consistency and repeatability despite the constant state of flux and ensure that the quality of the end products is maintained, particularly with respect to the reliability of soldered connections in electronic assemblies, they’ve developed standards like NASA-STD-8739.2 and NASA-STD-8739.3. These standards set out not only the procedures by which electronics assemblies are to be made but also mandate the environmental conditions (temperature, humidity etc) of the assembly room, the quality and type of materials to be used and provide detailed specifications and instructions around process methods such as the soldering of components on PCB assemblies and the like. They’ve subsequently been adopted as the general standards for other industries as well where similar high tech, high performance electronics equipment is used and in which reliable soldered connections are critical. The implementation of these standards by electronics manufacturing services involves ensuring that proper design standards are introduced and maintained on their premises through the control of tools, materials, manufacturing processes and the work environment. It involves employing skilled personnel like NASA Certified Solderers, ensuring the ongoing training of these technicians as required by the changing industry standards and maintaining certain standards of workmanship. As a consequence customers have also come to rely on, and demand, the guarantees of quality and reliability that NASA standards provide, and to insist that their suppliers and technicians carry these certifications. Therefore these, and similar industry mandated, industry controlled standards like the current standard for electronic space applications, J-STD-001ES, are now actively sought and maintained by electronics service companies like FastSMT not just because they’re mandatory for certain industries like aerospace but also because their broader customer base insists on them as well. Electronics Assemblies By NASA Certified Solderers “Reliable soldered connections result from proper design, use of properly trained and skilled personnel, and careful workmanship.” NASA-STD-8739. FastSMT is a Nadcap accredited electronics manufacturing service that designs and manufactures assemblies for high tech industries such as aerospace, aviation, defense, telecommunications and medicine. In addition to ensuring that all their solder technicians are appropriately NASA certified, they are also ISO-9000, ISO 13485, IPC 610 Class 3, J-STD-001E and J-STD-001ES certified and ITAR registered.
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Solder Certification, NASA Certified Solderers, NASA Soldering Standard,
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