NASA-HDBK-4006 REV A
LOW EARTH ORBIT SPACECRAFT CHARGING DESIGN HANDBOOK
| Organization: | NASA |
| Publication Date: | 28 November 2018 |
| Status: | active |
| Page Count: | 76 |
scope:
The information in this NASA Technical Handbook provides an overview of present-day (2017) understanding of the various plasma interactions that can result when a high-voltage system is operated in the Earth's ionosphere, references common design practices that have exacerbated plasma interactions in the past, and recommends standard practices to eliminate or mitigate such reactions.
Purpose
The purpose of this NASA Technical Handbook is to provide design guidance referenced in NASA-STD-4005, Low Earth Orbit Spacecraft Charging Design Standard, for spacecraft electrical power systems using voltages greater than 55 volts that operate in the low Earth orbit (LEO) plasma environment encountered in altitudes up to 2000 km and latitudes between -50 and +50 degrees. Such power systems, particularly solar arrays, are the proximate cause of spacecraft charging in LEO; and these systems can interact with this environment in a number of ways that are potentially destructive to themselves as well as to the platform or vehicle that has deployed them.
Applicability
This NASA Technical Handbook is applicable to high-voltage space power systems as described in the previous section and that have been or are being designed using NASA-STD-4005. For systems intended to operate in the geosynchronous (GEO) environment, or that will operate in both the LEO and GEO environments, NASA-HDBK-4002, Mitigating In-Space Charging Effects - A Guideline, should be considered as complementary to this document.
This NASA Technical Handbook is approved for use by NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers and Facilities. It may also apply to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC)), other contractors, recipients of grants and cooperative agreements, and parties to other agreements only to the extent specified or referenced in their applicable contracts, grants, or agreements.
This NASA Technical Handbook, or portions thereof, may be referenced in contract, program, and other Agency documents for guidance.
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