PREFERRED
RELIABILITY
PRACTICES
PRACTICE NO. PD-ED-1210
PAGE 1 OF 6
ASSESSMENT AND CONTROL
OF ELECTRICAL CHARGES
GODDARD
SPACE FLIGHT
CENTER
Practice:
Provide protection against electrostatic charges, discharges, and lightning strikes by shielding and
bonding space systems, structures, and their components in accordance with Standard Payload
Assurance Requirements (SPAR-3) for GSFC Orbital Projects. This reliability practice does not
cover Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) control due to an energetic space plasma environment.
Benefit:
The Earth's space environment (geospace) is uniquely comprised of dynamic and complex regions
of interacting plasmas, ionized particles, magnetic fields and electrical currents. Proper
grounding/bonding of the space vehicle's shell and its electronic equipment can provide protection
against lightning strikes in geospace, and also can eliminate or control most of its internal
electrical and electrostatic hazards. This results in lower failure rates and significant reliability and
safety enhancement of space systems and space vehicles.
Programs That Certified Usage:
Apollo, Space Shuttle, All GSFC Flight Programs
Center to Contact for More Information:
GSFC NASA Assurance Requirements Office
Implementation Method:
For space vehicles all sections of the vehicle's outer shell should be bonded together to permit
large quantities of electric charge to distribute across the shell by conducting paths. The bonded
shell of the space vehicle then acts as an electrical shield to protect internal structures from
lightning and atmospheric electricity.
Ground wires should be used for individual systems when appropriate.
Wires should be adequate to carry a surge without mechanical damage.
NASA has established lightning protection requirements for design, and
procedures to demonstrate that these requirements are implemented for the
Space Shuttle program in NASA document NSTS 07636, which is a subtier
Downloaded from http://www.everyspec.com
