Los Angeles-Las Vegas

Spacecraft Environment Effects and Mitigation Methods, #1

Given the expense and complexity of interplanetary spacecraft and, at the other end of the spectrum, the simplicity of Cubesats, the effects of the space environment can play a major if not dominate role in the success of such missions. The tradeoffs between the design of a spacecraft, testing methods , and mitigation techniques can be very confusing and expensive in both time and money. In this talk I will describe some of the major environments of concern: space plasmas, high energy particles, and aurora. These environments in turn can cause spacecraft charging, dose effects, and various types of single event effects. These will be defined and examples of mitigation techniques presented. The ultimate intent of the presentation is to outline a process for evaluating space environmental effects and providing a methodology for limiting their consequences on your spacecraft. This presentation is planned to be the first in a short series of talks on space environment impacts on spacecraft. Subsequent talks will address other environments and their effects such as those from atmospheres, magnetic fields/magnetospheres, and meteoroids.

Dr. Garrett has a doctorate in Space Physics and Astronomy from Rice University. He has over 150 publications on the space environment and its effects with specific emphasis in the areas of atmospheric physics, the low earth ionosphere, radiation, micrometeoroids, space plasma environments, and effects on materials and systems in space. While on active duty in the Air Force he served as Project Scientist for the highly successful SCATHA program which studied the effects of charging on spacecraft. For this he was awarded the Harold Brown Award, the Air Force's highest scientific award. In 1992, he was selected for a joint DoD/NASA assignment at the Pentagon as part of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization where he acted as the Deputy Program Manager for the Clementine Lunar Mission and Program Manager for the Clementine InterStage Adapter Satellite (ISAS). For contributions to these missions, he was awarded NASA's Medal for Exceptional Engineering Achievement. After a 30 years career in the USAF Reserves, he retired in 2002 as a full Colonel and was awarded the AF Legion of Merit. During his 43-year career at JPL, he has been responsible for defining the space environment and its effects on the reliability of many NASA missions. He has also published several textbooks on the space environment and its impact on spacecraft design and reliability. Dr. Garrett is an international consultant on the terrestrial and interplanetary space environments and spacecraft reliability having worked for INTELSAT, L'Garde, NASDA, LORAL, CNES, and other organizations. In 2006 Dr. Garrett received NASA's Exceptional Service Medal for "his achievements in advancing the understanding of space environments and effects." Dr. Garrett co-authored with Mr. Albert Whittlesey the primary NASA standard on spacecraft surface and internal charging for earth missions. Dr. Garrett retired from JPL in January of 2023. He was made a Fellow of the AIAA in 2019 and received the AIAA James Van Allen Space Environments Award in 2022.