session 3

Title

Space Environment and Effects on Space Missions

Description

The space environment can strongly impact the performance and reliability of space missions. It has several natural and induced components, including high-energy radiation, plasma, atomic oxygen, planetary dust, extreme temperature, vacuum, micro-gravity, micrometeoroid and debris, molecular and particulate contamination, etc. Environmental conditions yield constraints at design phase, and important risks in the course of the mission. The evaluation of the nominal and worst-case conditions to be met, mitigation and protection options, and of their impact on missions and flight systems are thus of prime importance. This session will encompass the following topics: Space Weather, Plasma, Spacecraft Charging, Radiation, Atomic Oxygen, Planetary Dust, Molecular and Particulate Contamination, Plume Induced Contamination Effects and Interactions, Combined Environments - flight measurements; - physical processes; - prediction of nominal or worst case condition; - ground testing; - flight experiments and lessons learned; - modelling and prediction; thermos-optical degradation effects.

IPC members

• Co-Chair: Mr. Jean-Francois Roussel, Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales (ONERA), France;

• Co-Chair: Prof. MENGU CHO, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan;

• Rapporteur: Mr. Carlos Soares, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, United States;