Re: radiation shielding for a habitat

Cray74_at_gmail.com
Date: 03/15/05 

Date: 15 Mar 2005 05:59:44 -0800

Alfred Montestruc wrote:
> How much is needed and of what type?

As a rule of thumb: a lot of mass.

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

That's about correct. 14.7 pounds of mass per square inch should give
you radiation shielding on par with Earth's atmosphere.

> Is this a reasonable approximation?

Yes.

> Or does someone have a better reference with hopefully
> less massy shielding ideas?

You could use thinner shields of denser materials, and some layered
multi-material shields have certain advantages against different types
of penetrating radiation, but a ~30ft thick wall of water is a good
start.

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

I believe you can get substantial protection from most radiation
threats with, say, a meter or two of water. If you want a temporary
storm shelter, a big tank of water reaction mass is a good start. You
need the water for the engines, and it can serve as shielding, too.

Mike Miller, Materials Engineer

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