The Space Environment

Abstract

During its launching and afterwards, during its life in orbit, an artificial satellite is subjected to a series of mechanical and thermal rigours which together comprise what is rather loosely called the space environment. The launch phase environment will be experienced by a sounding rocket also, but the orbital phase with a duration of only a few minutes can generally be largely ignored. In the course of this chapter we shall discuss the space environment and the problems which it raises, mainly from the view-point of the space scientist with an experiment to conduct. It will be convenient to distinguish the launch phase, with severe mechanical and possibly thermal stresses and the orbital phase, with its extended exposure to extreme temperatures, micrometeorites, low pressures and a variety of damaging electromagnetic and corpuscular radiations. Before a spacecraft is launched it will have to have demonstrated its ability to withstand all or most of these ambient conditions for at least a substantial fraction of its intended useful operating life. This will require a sequence of elaborate tests over a period of many months.