Abstract

Fiber-optic waveguides are attractive for applications on board spacecraft. However, the space environment is considerably more severe than terrestrial deployments, and the fibers may be exposed to extreme temperatures and radiation environments consisting of trapped charges in the Van Allen belts, solar electrons and protons, and cosmic γ rays. Indeed, even in relatively benign orbits anticipated for the Space Station, fiber located in cable trays in the external structure would receive a dose of 1–46 rad/day, depending on the orbit, during its 30-yr lifetime, while the temperature could vary from –150 to 120°C, depending on the orientation of the spacecraft. Although the behavior of optical fibers in terrestrial radiation environments is well-characterized,¹ we report here the first evaluation of fiber radiation response in art environment simulating Space Station deployment.

© 1987 Optical Society of America