The Hardening of Satellite Cables to X-Rays

Various hardening techniques for shielded satellite cables exposed to X-rays are experimentally investigated. The most promising technique that maintains flight quality of the cables without increasing weight significantly is the use of an additional layer of conductive plastic around each primary wire's insulation. The principal effect of the conductive plastic is to shunt the kinetic charge emitted from the shield back to the shield, thus minimizing the flow of replacement current. It is suggested that this hardening technique may be optimized by reducing the resistivity of the conductive plastic, and also applying it to the primary wire(s) of the shielded cables.