Interactions between spacecraft and their environments

Abstract

Spacecraft inevitably interact with their environments. Besides the interactions one immediately thinks of in space (zero-g, solar heating, atmospheric drag, expansion into vacuum conditions, etc.) other interactions are also important. Those of interest to spacecraft designers so far may be grouped under several headings; plasma interactions and spacecraft charging, impact of debris and micrometeoroids, chemical reactions with neutral species, radiation degradation, etc. Researchers have made great progress in defining and evaluating the interactions of spacecraft with their expected ambient environments near Earth and in interplanetary space. Some of these interactions are discussed with an eye toward expanding our knowledge into new environments, such as may be found at the moon and Mars, that will interact in new and different ways with exploring spacecraft and spacefarers.