Operational Weather Needs For Exploration Class Missions

Details Operational Weather Needs For Exploration Class Missions Operational Weather Needs For Exploration Class Missions

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufmsm34a..02g&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #SM34A-02

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

2194 Instruments And Techniques, 7900 Space Weather, 7924 Forecasting (2722), 7959 Models, 7984 Space Radiation Environment

Scientific paper

The minimization of crew exposure to space radiation is a major concern for manned spaceflight and will be even more important for the modern concept of longer duration exploration. The inherent protection afforded to astronauts by the magnetic field of the Earth in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) makes operations on the space shuttle or space station very different from operations in lunar transit or on the lunar surface. LEO missions would most likely require operations which are either extreme in duration or which encounter an extreme sequence of solar activity in order to represent significant immediate crew or mission risk. With the differences in risk to crew, vehicle and mission in mind, the new space weather monitoring goals for NASA and the Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) at Johnson Space Center cover two distinct areas: (a) Moon base operations and (b) manned exploration of Mars. For both scenarios, though there will be some radiation exposure during mission transit through the trapped radiation belts and GCR exposure during transit to and stay on the surface (of more concern for the Mars mission), the primary concern outside the Earth's magnetopause is that of large Solar Particle Events (SPEs). Outside of the geo-magnetosphere, however, the situation is dramatically different. Exposure to the same event on the ISS and on the surface of the Moon or Mars may differ by several orders of magnitude, making radiation exposure and the dependence on space weather a limiting factor to exploration of the solar system. In the past, the focus of funded scientific research has not necessarily been directly applicable for use for or during mission operations. However, work is currently underway to bridge the gap that exists between research goals and operational needs to transition current and future resources into space weather products and services. We present the status of current operational efforts, needs and interests in situational space weather monitoring with the goal of developing new tools that will enable exploration class missions.

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