<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_asam-2019-001_s_001"><h3>Aim</h3><p>The purpose of this research was to employ radiobiological as well as physics principles to investigate materials for an intravehicular spacesuit and a “storm shelter” that might minimize radiation exposure to astronauts during a mission to Mars.</p></sec><sec id="j_asam-2019-001_s_002"><h3>Methods</h3><p>NASA’s OLTARIS space radiation modelling tool was used to investigate thirty-two potential shielding materials. Radiation exposure was estimated during a return transit to Mars of 360 days duration. We assessed each shielding material by its ability to decrease effective radiation dose received by a computerized phantom during the constant galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and a single solar particle event (SPE). For the “storm shelter” a large liquid fuel tank was modelled adjacent to the phantom during a SPE.</p></sec><sec id="j_asam-2019-001_s_003"><h3>Results</h3><p>At standard conditions, graphene appeared to be a promising shielding material when comparing other materials including polyethylene and lithium. The shielding efficacy became comparable to polyethylene but inferior to lithium when materials were normalised to 10g/cm2, 20g/cm2 and 30g/cm2. The graphene around the phantom reduced effective dose from GCR compared with an unshielded transit by 34% (162mSv/yr vs 213.3mSv/yr). A “storm shelter” using a liquid fuel tank was positioned to create a barrier adjacent to the astronauts. The liquid barrier reduced effective dose by 98.8% (44mSv vs 3614mSv). Other mitigation strategies were deduced and divided into launch, transit and habitation considerations.</p></sec><sec id="j_asam-2019-001_s_004"><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>A graphene based intravehicular suit could decrease astronaut exposure to harmful radiation during transit to Mars. A storm shelter using fuel as a barrier also decreased radiation dose during a solar particle event.</p></sec></abstract>

AimThe purpose of this research was to employ radiobiological as well as physics principles to investigate materials for an intravehicular spacesuit and a “storm shelter” that might minimize radiation exposure to astronauts during a mission to Mars.MethodsNASA’s OLTARIS space radiation modelling tool was used to investigate thirty-two potential shielding materials. Radiation exposure was estimated during a return transit to Mars of 360 days duration. We assessed each shielding material by its ability to decrease effective radiation dose received by a computerized phantom during the constant galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and a single solar particle event (SPE). For the “storm shelter” a large liquid fuel tank was modelled adjacent to the phantom during a SPE.ResultsAt standard conditions, graphene appeared to be a promising shielding material when comparing other materials including polyethylene and lithium. The shielding efficacy became comparable to polyethylene but inferior to lithium when materials were normalised to 10g/cm2, 20g/cm2 and 30g/cm2. The graphene around the phantom reduced effective dose from GCR compared with an unshielded transit by 34% (162mSv/yr vs 213.3mSv/yr). A “storm shelter” using a liquid fuel tank was positioned to create a barrier adjacent to the astronauts. The liquid barrier reduced effective dose by 98.8% (44mSv vs 3614mSv). Other mitigation strategies were deduced and divided into launch, transit and habitation considerations.ConclusionA graphene based intravehicular suit could decrease astronaut exposure to harmful radiation during transit to Mars. A storm shelter using fuel as a barrier also decreased radiation dose during a solar particle event.

MISSION TO MARS: RADIATION SAFETY OR RADIATION DISASTER? SPACE TRANSIT AND MARS RADIATION EXPOSURE RISKS – THE POTENTIAL SHIELDING EFFECT OF AN INTRAVEHICULAR GRAPHENE SPACE SUIT AND A STORM SHELTER DURING SPACE TRAVEL

Journal of the Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

AimThe purpose of this research was to employ radiobiological as well as physics principles to investigate materials for an intravehicular spacesuit and a...

MISSION TO MARS: RADIATION SAFETY OR RADIATION DISASTER? SPACE TRANSIT AND MARS RADIATION EXPOSURE RISKS – THE POTENTIAL SHIELDING EFFECT OF AN INTRAVEHICULAR GRAPHENE SPACE SUIT AND A STORM SHELTER DURING SPACE TRAVEL

Article Category: research-article

Published Online: Jan 30, 2020

Page range: 1 - 9

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/asam-2019-001

© 2020 Tim Squire et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.