{"id":9623,"date":"2026-11-02T13:14:50","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T12:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bf-engineering.com\/?post_type=anwendung&p=9623"},"modified":"2026-11-02T13:30:34","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T12:30:34","slug":"irradiation-testing-for-spacecraft","status":"publish","type":"anwendung","link":"https:\/\/bf-engineering.com\/en\/application\/irradiation-testing-for-spacecraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Irradiation Testing for Spacecraft"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9576,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"anwendung-kat":[86],"produkt-kat":[],"class_list":["post-9623","anwendung","type-anwendung","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","anwendung-kat-aerospace","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":{"cpt-modules":{"":null,"description":"Preparing rovers, landers and scientific hardware for their missions<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSpacecraft are developed for very different operating environments. A lander on a planetary surface, a rover carrying scientific instruments and a system travelling through space each require an appropriate thermal test concept.\r\n\r\nIrradiation testing supports the investigation of heating, temperature distribution and behaviour during defined operating phases. Depending on the task, it is combined with a climatic environment, reduced pressure or thermal vacuum testing.\r\n\r\nOne documented example is the preparation of solar and thermal testing for the Curiosity Mars rover, where solar simulation was used as part of a coordinated space simulation environment.","button":null,"text":{"title":"The Mission Determines the Test Setup","description":"An irradiation system is designed around the conditions relevant to the investigation. These include the radiation load, ambient temperatures, pressure and the operating states of the test object.\r\n\r\nThe development stage also plays a role: an early demonstrator can initially be investigated in an easily accessible laboratory setup. Later verification tests may introduce additional requirements concerning how representative the environment and the integrated system configuration must be.\r\n\r\nThis creates a test concept suited to the task \u2014 from an individual instrument to an assembled system.","button":null},"gallery":"","references":"","tabs":[{"title":"Test Objectives","description":"Investigating mission-specific loads for rovers, landers and instruments<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSpacecraft are developed for different mission phases and operating environments. Thermal requirements during transfer differ from those on a planetary surface. Instruments, electronics and structures within the same system may also have different permissible temperature ranges.\r\n\r\nThe test task therefore begins with the selection of relevant conditions. These may include an intensive irradiation phase, an extended cooling period or the operation of an instrument under specified environmental conditions.\r\n\r\nDepending on the development stage, the focus may be on individual components, thermal models or integrated systems. The tests provide information about how heat is distributed throughout the assembly and whether the thermal concept supports the intended operating states.\r\n\r\nSystem testing of the Curiosity Mars rover investigated both transfer conditions under vacuum and Martian surface conditions at reduced gas pressure. Solar simulation was used for selected hot and diurnal test cases.\r\n\r\nPossible areas of investigation:\r\n