The crash of the Columbia space shuttle as it entered the Earth's atmosphere on 1 February 2003 reminded the public - and NASA - of the serious dangers posed by spacecraft in everything from insulating foam to space debris. Here, Alan Trappley presents a unique and recent account of a wide range of less visible environmental impacts, but no less, which can cause damage or cause poor performance of orbital spacecraft. By transferring a wealth of insight into the nature of the space environment and how the spacecraft interacts with it, it covers design modifications aimed at eliminating or reducing environmental impacts such as increased absorption of solar energy resulting from self-pollution, corrosion of substances by atomic oxygen, , The deterioration of electrical circuits by radiation, and shelling by micro meteorites.

This book is unique in that it bridges the gap between space environment studies and space physicists and spacecraft engineering as practiced by space engineers.

I want that book.