The detrimental effect of radiation has been a noted problem since its discovery by Becquerel. This thesis has studied the effect of radiation on components used in optical systems that have, or may be used, in instrumentation lofted on satellite platforms. Particular emphasis has been placed on the effects of radiation observed in materials associated with vacuum ultraviolet observations. The main parameter studied is transmission, though reference is made to methods of studying changes in dispersion. The results have been analysed and show that a number of factors can affect the influence of ionising radiation on a chosen medium. These results are used to see if these effects can be approximated by simple mathematical functions
