radiation shielding for a habitat

From: Alfred Montestruc (montestruc_at_gmail.com)
Date: 03/15/05 

Date: 14 Mar 2005 23:33:55 -0800

How much is needed and of what type?

It seems obvious to me that the earth has enough radiation shielding
at sea level or even at say 12,000 feet above sea level to protect
people from pretty much the worst that we can expect. That implys
about 10-14.7 pounds-mass per square inch of surface area of the
habitat in light elements like Oxygen and Nitrogen or Hydrogen, and
perhaps more of other materials.

H2O ice, or perhaps liquid water, or perhaps various plastics might
make good materials for this with perhaps nickle steel or aluminum
structural backing.

This winds up being about 23.1 to 33.92 foot thick ( 7.03-10.34 meters)
of liquid water.

Is this a reasonable approximation? Or does someone have a better
reference with hopefully less massy shielding ideas?

I am aware that this much will not be needed all the time, but even for
a radiation shelter this is pretty heavy.

Relevant Pages

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    ... > I need to find a tungsten foundry or a source for tungsten sheet ... > to make some radiation shielding for a prototype PET scanner. ... First off, I'm not a materials scientist, so weigh that against what ... Could you use Bismuth? ...
    (sci.materials)