A Conference on Spacecraft Charging Technology - 1978, held at U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado, October 31 - November 2, 1978

摘要

The second Spacecraft Charging Technology Conference was held at the U.S. Air Force Academy from October 31 to November 2, 1978. The first conference, held two years earlier, was so successful in bringing together experts from diverse areas of this technology to exchange results and viewpoints that it was believed another conference would be of substantial benefit. The tenor of the presentations at this conference was gratifying. No longer are we working with first concepts and theories. We now have, in hand, space and ground test data that correlate well; analytical programs that can model the observed phenomena; and the imminent flight of the SCATHA spacecraft, which will extend our knowledge of the spacecraft charging environment. Although the technology is far from being complete, there was a feeling of confidence among the participants that we are beginning to develop a working knowledge of the problems and their potential remedies. One session of this conference introduced a new area of general interest, environmental interactions with on-board, high-voltage spacecraft systems operating over a wide range of altitudes from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit. These interactions must be considered during the initial design phases of future high-power space systems. (Author)