[pmjordan]

Can electronics be designed in a way so that it has a very long life?

NASA seem to be pretty good at that. I guess it's a question of cost more than anything else.

[brazzy]

The oldest stuff NASA has out there is what, 35 years old? Hardly a "very long life". And it's floating in vacuum, which is pretty much the ideal storage environment. Making stuff last in space is much easier than on Earth (and much easier than getting it there, of course).

[dwiel]

It seems that the high levels of radiation could make it much less than the ideal storage environment

[andrewflnr]

Plus temperature extremes.