Low Energy Ionizing Radiation and Plasma Contributions to Radiation Dose in Materials at Sun-Earth Lagrange Points
- High energy radiation environments responsible for radiation damage to thick materials are well characterized and modeled: - Galactic cosmic rays — Badhwar-O’Neil 2020, CREME96, Nymmik - Solar particle events — Emission of Solar Protons, SAPPHIRE, JPL, King 1972 - Trapped radiation belts — AE8/AP8, AE9/AP9/IRENE - Low energy radiation environments responsible for radiation damage to thin materials relevant to Lagrange points and interplanetary missions have not been treated as comprehensively to date: - Solar wind - Magnetosheath - Magnetotail - Concern to spacecraft design and operations is radiation damage to surfaces and thin materials with mission critical applications on exterior of spacecraft - Applications: thermal control coatings, sunshields, multilayer insulation, optical thin film coatings, solar sails, thermo-optical properties of space exposed materials - Damage processes: radiation degradation (total dose), light ion sputtering, proton blistering of soft metals, modification of optical properties (α/ε), modification of charging properties (SEY, surface conductivity)