Selected Results of Radiation Measurements performed in European Projects onboard the International Space Station
- Paper number
IAC-10.A1.4.1
- Author
Dr. Günther Reitz, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Germany
- Year
2010
- Abstract
From the beginning of manned spaceflight, ionizing radiation had been identified as a key factor for limiting long-term missions in space by its impact on crew health and performance. The radiation exposure can be reduced by careful mission planning and appropriate measures, such as a radiation shelter, but astronauts still have to cope with at least 100 fold higher exposure levels than on Earth. The reason for that is the high penetration capability of the space radiation components through matter owing to their high energies. Space radiation is a complex mixture of charged particles of galactic and solar origin and in earth orbit in addition of the radiation belts, as well as of secondary particles produced in interactions of the primary components with the nuclei of the shielding material. Risk from exposure to ionizing radiation is determined from the level of the exposure in the different organs taking into account the radiobiological quality of the radiation field and the radiosensitivity of the organs. Accurate measurements of the radiation exposure are therefore one of the prerequisites for precise risk estimation. Confident measurements of the radiation field parameters onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and beyond with active and passive detectors is a challenging and demanding tasks taking into account the limitations in mass, dimensions, power consumption and data transmission for the instruments. After a description of the used instrumention, the presentation will focus on new results from field measurement mainly in COLUMBUS and depth dose distributions received with MATROSHKA. An oulook on future activities will conclude the presentation.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)