Space environment

Space environment is a branch of astronautics, aerospace engineering and space physics that seeks to understand and address conditions existing in space that affect the design and operation of spacecraft. A related subject, space weather, deals with dynamic processes in the solar-terrestrial system that can give rise to effects on spacecraft, but that can also affect the atmosphere, ionosphere and geomagnetic field, giving rise to several other kinds of effects on human technologies. Effects on spacecraft can arise from radiation, space debris and meteoroid impact, upper atmospheric drag and spacecraft electrostatic charging. Radiation in space usually comes from three main sources: The Van Allen radiation belts Solar proton events and solar energetic particles; and Galactic cosmic rays. For long-duration missions, the high doses of radiation can damage electronic components and solar cells. A major concern is also radiation-induced "single-event effects" such as single event upset. Crewed missions usually avoid the radiation belts and the International Space Station is at an altitude well below the most severe regions of the radiation belts. During solar energetic events (solar flares and coronal mass ejections) particles can be accelerated to very high energies and can reach the Earth in times as short as 30 minutes (but usually take some hours). These particles are mainly protons and heavier ions that can cause radiation damage, disruption to logic circuits, and even hazards to astronauts. Crewed missions to return to the Moon or to travel to Mars will have to deal with the major problems presented by solar particle events to radiation safety, in addition to the important contribution to doses from the low-level background cosmic rays. In near-Earth orbits, the Earth's geomagnetic field screens spacecraft from a large part of these hazards - a process called geomagnetic shielding. Space debris and meteoroids can impact spacecraft at high speeds, causing mechanical or electrical damage.

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Concepts associés (10)

Cours associés (5)

Séances de cours associées (21)

EE-585: Space mission design and operations

This course is a "concepts" course. It introduces a variety of concepts in use in the design of a space mission, manned or unmanned, and in space operations. it is at least partly based on the practic

EE-580: Introduction to the design of space mechanisms

Space environment is different from what we can experience on Earth, requiring specific design approaches in order to achieve reliable operations. Engineers must hence face new challenges stimulating

EE-584: Spacecraft design and system engineering

The main objective of the course is to introduce the concept of space system design and engineering. The course will describe the various subsystems involved in the design of a satellite. It will also

Lois sur la conservation : propriétés et lois connues

Couvre la définition des lois sur la conservation et des lois connues relatives à l'élan, à l'énergie et à l'hélicité.

Équilibre des radiations dans la conception des engins spatiaux

Explique l'équilibre des rayonnements dans la conception des engins spatiaux, y compris le flux solaire et les propriétés des matériaux.

Introduction aux infrastructures spatiales : aperçu et facteurs habilitants

Introduit les biens spatiaux, les facteurs économiques et l'impact de la chaîne d'approvisionnement.

Space physics

Space physics, also known as solar-terrestrial physics or space-plasma physics, is the study of plasmas as they occur naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere (aeronomy) and within the Solar System. As such, it encompasses a far-ranging number of topics, such as heliophysics which includes the solar physics of the Sun, the solar wind, planetary magnetospheres and ionospheres, auroras, cosmic rays, and synchrotron radiation.

Space environment

Apesanteur

L'apesanteur ou impesanteur est l'état d'un système dans lequel aucune accélération, causée par la gravitation ou toute autre force, ne peut être mesurée par un observateur dans le système en question. Cela inclut les situations de chute libre, mais aussi les situations où le système est suffisamment éloigné de toute source de gravité pour que celle-ci puisse être négligée. Cette situation se traduit par une absence de poids (mais la masse reste inchangée).