A term that encompasses all the charging effects on a spacecraft due to the environment in space. Occasionally this term is used in a more limited sense to mean surface charging.
Effects observed as a result of the interaction of a spacecraft or device with the local space environment. Examples include radiation dose, single event effects, sensor background accumulated charge,
spacecraft anomalies and damage caused by microparticle impacts.
A coordinate system where X lies in the plane normal to and in the direction of motion of the spacecraft, Z is normal to this plane and Y completes the triad in a right-handed coordinate system.