Spacecraft charging-progress in the study of dielectrics and plasmas

An object, whether conducting or not, takes on charge in a plasma. If the object is a spacecraft, and the plasma is provided by a planetary magnetosphere, the act of charging can produce a variety of unwanted effects. During the last twenty years, spacecraft have been flown specifically to measure charging and discharging effects; ground experiments, performed to measure the fundamental properties of materials used in spacecraft, have provided charging parameters and testing procedures and guidelines for entire spacecraft design. This review summarizes the progress.>