Regolith Biological Shield for a Lunar Outpost from High Energy Solar Protons

Biology – Quantitative Biology – Biomolecules

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Lunar, Planetary, And Deep-Space Probes, Effects Of Radiation And External Fields On Biomolecules, Cells And Higher Organisms, Structural And Shielding Materials, Energetic Particles

Scientific paper

Beyond Earth atmosphere, natural space radiation from Galactic Cosmic Rays and Solar Energetic Protons (SEPs) represents a significant hazard to both manned and robotic missions. For lunar settlements, protecting astronauts from SEPs is a key safety issue that needs to be addressed by identifying appropriate shielding materials. This paper investigates the interaction of SEPs with the lunar regolith, and quantifies the effectiveness of the regolith as a biological shield for a human habitat, compared to aluminum, presently the standard shielding material. Also calculated is the shielding thickness to reduce the dose in the habitat to those recommended by International Radiation Protection Committee and by NASA for operation on the international space station. The present calculations are for the most energetic solar event of February 1956, which included high energy protons up to 1000 MeV. Results show that the lunar regolith is as effective as aluminum for shielding lunar outposts. A large thickness of the regolith (~30 g/cm2) would be needed to reduce the dose in the habitat from high energy protons below the 30 days flight crew limit of 25 Rem (or 250 mSv) and significantly more shielding would be needed (~150 g/cm2) to reduce the dose down to the limit for radiation workers of 5 Rem (or 50 mSv).

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Regolith Biological Shield for a Lunar Outpost from High Energy Solar Protons does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Regolith Biological Shield for a Lunar Outpost from High Energy Solar Protons, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Regolith Biological Shield for a Lunar Outpost from High Energy Solar Protons will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1592201

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.