Internal Breakdown of Charged Spacecraft Dielectrics

The primary purpose of this paper is to suggest that low differential voltage, small energy discharges associated with internal buried charge may be a dominant mechanism by which stored electrostatic energy is released from dielectrics on board orbiting spacecraft. The evidence from space as given by Stevens is noted. Laboratory experimental evidence of Frederickson is invoked to demonstrate that discharges occur under circumstances with no external potential drop. Previous calculations are then reviewed which indicate that significant internal electric fields can exist in dielectrics charged with multiple-kilovolt electron beams under conditions involving little or no external potential drop. The internal discharge mechanism of Meulenberg is recalled, and new calculations suggesting that the space environment is conducive to the formation of the conditions required by this mechanism are presented. Experimental procedures for checking the suggestions of the paper are developed.