By the end of this decade, many experts predict, the current method of
making microcircuits — done by shining high - frequency light through stencil templates to etch connections onto a semiconductor chip — will have reached its physical limits, with individual elements bottoming out at something like one - fifth the size of today's best.
Today, spacecraft are far more sophisticated and fragile,
made of lightweight polysyllabic polymers and stuffed with
microcircuits and light - years - beyond - Microsoft software.