SOLAR ORBITER ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATION - ISSUE 1.3 (1 MAY 2006)

SOLAR ORBITER ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATION - ISSUE 1.3 (1 MAY 2006). The Space Environment can cause severe problems for any space system including the Solar Orbiter on its mission to the innermost regions of the solar system. Proper assessment of the potential effects is an essential part of the engineering process leading to the construction of any element of the spacecraft. It is important that this is taken into account from the earliest phases of a project when consideration is given to mass budget, protection, component selection policy, etc. As the design of an element is developed, further engineering iteration is normally necessary with more detailed analysis. This document is intended to assist the developers of instruments for the Solar Orbiter in assessing the effects of the space environment on their systems. The document is based on the ECSS-E-10-04 Space Environment Standard, from which most of the background information has been taken (ECSS is a cooperative effort of the European Space Agency, National Space Agencies and European industry associations for the purpose of developing and maintaining common standards). The ECSSE- 10-04 standard can also be accessed via the WWW site http://www.estec.esa.nl/wmwww/wma/.