Some Novel Ideas of Spacecraft Charging Mitigation

The level of spacecraft surface charging is determined by current balance. At geosynchronous altitude, photoelectron currents from spacecraft surfaces exceed the ambient electron currents. Lacking photoemission, however, the dark side of a spacecraft can charge to high negative voltages, which, in turn, affect the sunlit side. This paper explores the feasibility of using the following: 1) mirrors and 2) artificial photon sources, such as xenon excimer lamps or vacuum ultraviolet LEDs, to generate sufficient photoemission from the dark side to prevent high-level negative voltage charging.