Originally Posted by gums
OTOH, fer jeeez friggin' sake!!!!! The "memory" is not encased in a stainless steel/titanium "crash survivable" container - like the the DFDR itself, and is attached to the OUTSIDE of the neat, orange qizmo!?! BEAM ME UP!!!!
OK, the memory module is what is packaged to survive the apocalypse. The rest is the electronics that feed that little bit of memory. If the memory module sticks to the chassis that is nice. If it breaks loose there was enough stress that it might have broken rather than come off whole if it had been secured better.
Come to think of it, if the memory module separates easily it cannot get corrupted by the death spasms of the electronics module. It may have been designed to detach fairly easily for that reason.
Wikipiddle has some pictures that might help you see what is going on. But the one shown with three main pieces should do it, electronics chassis, memory module, and pinger.