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Applied Sciences
Special Issues
Space Environment Effects on Spacecraft Systems and Subsystems
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Space Environment Effects on Spacecraft Systems and Subsystems

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Aerospace Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 427

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andrea Delfini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Electric and Energy Engineering (DIAEE), Department of Astronautics, Sapienza University of Rome, 00138 Rome, Italy
Interests: space environment; space systems; nanosatellites design; atomic oxygen and UV; Thermal vacuum; physics of the space environment; design of protective systems for the space environment; mission analysis; validation of space systems and satellites
Dr. Roberto Pastore

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Astronautic, Electric and Energy Engineering Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Salaria 851, 00138 Rome, Italy
Interests: space environment; space systems; nanosatellites design; atomic oxygen and UV; thermal vacuum; physics of the space environment; design of protective systems for the space environment; mission analysis; validation of space systems and satellites

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to collect contributions from scientists around the world regarding the effects of the space environment on space systems and subsystems, and in particular, those relating to the LEO operational environment. The LEO environment includes severe hazards, such as atomic oxygen (AO), ultraviolet (UV) radiation, ionizing radiation, strong vacuums, plasma, micrometeoroids, and debris, severe temperature cycles and, for some systems, the re-entry environment. It is important to note that these environmental characteristics do affect spacecrafts at the same time, with a remarkable synergistic effect. In order to understand these synergistic effects, both experimental or theoretical and numerical approaches are of great importance. Analyzing and comprehending the operative environment becomes a key point in extending the operative life of space systems.

Dr. Andrea Delfini
Dr. Roberto Pastore
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • space environment
  • physics of the space environment
  • atomic oxygen (AO)
  • ultraviolet (UV) radiation
  • ionizing radiation
  • strong vacuum
  • plasma
  • micrometeoroids and debris
  • severe temperature cycles
  • spacecraft systems
  • subsystems
  • re-entry systems and subsystems

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

10 pages, 5110 KiB  
Article
Synergistic Effects of Atomic Oxygen and UV Radiation on Carbon/Carbon Plates at Different Attitude Positions
by Andrea Delfini, Roberto Pastore, Marta Albano, Fabio Santoni, Fabrizio Piergentili and Mario Marchetti
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(13), 5850; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14135850 - 4 Jul 2024
Viewed by 359
Abstract
Atomic oxygen (AtOx) is a major component of the space environment between 200 and 800 km (LEO—low Earth orbit region) and is the principal source of erosion for exposed aerospace structures. The damage to surface materials is proportional to the AtOx fluence, which [...] Read more.
Atomic oxygen (AtOx) is a major component of the space environment between 200 and 800 km (LEO—low Earth orbit region) and is the principal source of erosion for exposed aerospace structures. The damage to surface materials is proportional to the AtOx fluence, which depends on altitude, exposure time, orbital inclination, and solar activity, and it is caused by the formation of volatile oxides which do not adhere to the surface; furthermore, the mass loss may also be worsened by UV radiation, which increases the chemical degradation of the exposed material. Carbon/carbon (C/C) is an advanced ceramic composite that is frequently found as a base component of thermal protection systems (TPS), rocket nozzles, or other spacecraft subsystems. In this work, a simulation of the AtOx/UV synergistic effects on C/C plates exposed at different attitude positions were carried out by experimental tests performed at the Aerospace Systems Laboratory (LSA—Sapienza University of Rome) by means of an Atomic Oxygen OS-Prey RF plasma source, which also included a high-power UV-ray generator. The present experimental plan was built on the activity developed during recent years at LSA concerning the study of C/C materials for protecting aerospace structures from thermal shock in re-entry missions. The tests were conceived by considering a fixed time of exposure with a base fluence of 7.6 × 1019 n.s./cm2, as evaluated from the erosion of the reference samples exposed to AtOx flux at a normal incidence; the simulation of the different attitude positions was then analyzed, also considering the simultaneous effect of UV radiation. The results of the aging ground test suggest the following: (i) C/C oxidation in LEO must be taken into full consideration in the TPS design with reference to protective coating solutions, (ii) the LEO environment simulation is closely related to AtOx/UV combined irradiation, as well as to the spacecraft’s in-orbit attitude. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Space Environment Effects on Spacecraft Systems and Subsystems)
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