Radiation is a major hazard in spaceflight, causing progressive performance degradation and / or can lead mission-ending failures. Critical or sensitive electronics must have been already radiation hard assessed or need to be radiation tested before the mission to guarantee the required tolerance against radiation damage for the mission life.
Course Objectives
This workshop aims to introduce an understanding of the space radiation environment, space radiation effects on payload mounted devices and a practical overview of the radiation assurance process from design to launch. This course will be carried out over a series of two days:
Day 1 will be targeted towards engineers, commercial entrepreneurs and will provide a general overview of the space radiation environment and its effects on spacecrafts.
- Content topics to be covered include:
- Space Radiation Environments and Models
- Basics of radiation matter interactions (ions, gamma, neutrons) Part 1
- Basics of radiation matter interactions – Part 2
- Shielding with application to space radiation
- Rad effects in space components & microelectronics and their mechanisms e.g. TID, DD, SEE – A little on analysis (FASTRAD, NOVICE, rate calculation using SPENVIS and OMERE)
- Testing/Qualification & Facilities (Domestic and international)
Day 2 will be case studies focused, using practical examples of the radiation assurance process, and will be targeted more toward engineers who need to make critical mission design and component choices.
- Content topics to be covered include:
- Radiation Hardness Assurance
- Preferred parts lists
- Understanding what the specs are telling you.
- Standards/Process
- Introduction to Monte Carlo simulations / radiation transport modelling of space radiation effects (GEANT-4, FASTRAD)
- Space Weather/ BOM Services
