Re: Cosmic radiation could thwart space colonization

On Apr 3, 7:24 am, "Jeff Findley" <jeff.find...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Enough Already" <enough_alre...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:48644646-567b-4ba9-94c2-a5feee8cb217@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



Fromhttp://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKN3139657820080401:

"Cosmic rays are so dangerous and so poorly understood that people are
unlikely to get to Mars or even back to the moon until better ways are
found to protect astronauts, experts said on Monday."

Fromhttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,344491,00.html:

"Dangerous levels of radiation in space could bar astronauts from a
mission to Mars and limit prolonged activity on the moon, experts now
caution."

While not exactly breaking news, the above could derail plans to
colonize other planets, often used as an excuse to ignore Earthly
limits and trash the "local" environment. You people know who you are.

Nice of you to ignore this section:

Possible solutions
When it comes to shielding astronauts from radiation, spacecraft
designers and mission planners have to consider trading off a safe
amount of protective material - say, high density plastic - with
cutting weight in order to enter space practically.
Crafts that are too heavy simply can't carry enough fuel to make
flight practical.
Further research could not only look into better shielding
materials, but also spacecraft designs that put electronics and
machinery in the periphery between astronauts and harm's way.

That and this only applies to the transit time to/from the moon or Mars.
Once there, it's entirely possible to heap a lot of local soil on top of
your living quarters to act as shielding. So you don't *have* to take *all*
your shielding with you during the transit to/from your destination.

"Lava tubes on the moon might also be useful as habitats from a
shielding point of view," Schimmerling said. "I don't know how
realistic the idea is, but they would have the advantage of
reduced exposure to radiation."

If you're talking about building large scale colonies, you can create your
own tunnels. Tunnel boring machines are pretty common on earth.

The sun is a major source of dangerous radiation astronauts
might encounter especially during solar storms that can erupt
with little notice. The committee also recommended further
research into forecasting these outbursts.

Of course they're going to recommend more research, they're the ones who
would get those research dollars! Scientists will *always* say there is
more research to be don, it's their freaking job!

Seriously, spacecraft designers will take this into account. One of the
best things you can do for a large spacecraft design is stick your water
storage tanks around your solar flare shelter since water is good at
absorbing radiation. If a flare erupts, you have to "hunker down" in the
shelter until its over, but you're not going to die. Even for a small craft
like Orion, you can orient your spacecraft so the radiation has to travel
through the rest of the craft before it gets to the crew cabin at the other
end. That way the rest of the craft, like your fuel and oxidizer tanks, can
absorb some of the radiation.

There is always risk, but risk is part of the exploration/colonization
business.

Jeff
--
A clever person solves a problem.
A wise person avoids it. -- Einstein

Raytheon/TRW Space Data Report has this one at having to survive 2e3
Sv/year while shielded by 5/16" aluminum. Of course that's also while
situated within our GEO and thereby not exterior to the saturated
gauntlet worth of cosmic plus solar and moon contributed X-rays and
gamma that's included along with those absolutely nasty solar wind
particles, of representing as to what nearly the worse our lethal Van
Allen belts contain that isn't exactly DNA friendly.

BTW, "A wise person avoids it. -- Einstein", whereas it's good to
remember that ISS has to avoid the growing/expanding SAA at all cost.
So, Einstein was 100% correct.
.. - Brad Guth
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Cosmic radiation could thwart space colonization
    ... unlikely to get to Mars or even back to the moon until better ways are ... When it comes to shielding astronauts from radiation, spacecraft ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Cosmic radiation could thwart space colonization
    ... unlikely to get to Mars or even back to the moon until better ways are ... found to protect astronauts, experts said on Monday." ... When it comes to shielding astronauts from radiation, ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The Moon
    ... protect astronauts from radiation! ... The hull of the space craft which carried the the astronauts to/from ... the moon was indeed aluminum, but was much thicker than tin foil. ...
    (rec.music.classical.guitar)
  • Re: The Mars Landing Approach: Getting Large Payloads to the Surface of the Red Planet
    ... it lost interest in Apollo after the first Moon ... We've had major hints hat manned space travel might be a dangerous ... Earth could drive astronauts loony. ... the barrier against solar and cosmic radiation. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: The Apollo Hoax FAQ
    ... > record and video footage shot by NASA astronauts and questions ... > What does it take to prove we went to the Moon? ... > The Lunar surface brightness misconception. ... On Earth the pilot could eject in cases ...
    (sci.astro)