New technology is being developed to Protect Astronauts From Radiation in Deep Space
So...What’s Being Done to Protect Astronauts From
Radiation in Deep Space?
In 1982, author James Michener published
his sprawling Space Race novel, Space. In it, he describes a fictional Apollo
18 mission to the Moon. While the astronauts are on the surface, the Sun
unleashes a huge storm, trapping them outside of their protective capsule. The
two men get blasted by lethal amounts of radiation before they can get to
safety.
They manage to make it back to their lander
but are so sick that they can’t fly back to rejoin their third crewmate in the
orbiting lunar command module. They end up crashing back to the surface and
dying. As grisly as this sounds, a radiation event like the one in Space poses
a very real challenge to space explorers. And, it’s this sort of scenario that
lunar mission planners want to avoid. Today, they’re working on ways to
mitigate exposure, and, if astronauts do get a dose of radiation, finding
medical methods to treat them.
Space Weather and Radiation
Solar outbursts send energetic particles our way via the solar wind
every day. They cause space weather, which interferes with communications
systems between Earth and the many missions in space (including ISS). It can
also seriously disrupt systems here on Earth. Space weather (and the solar
storms that cause it) intensify when the Sun is more active, during a period
called the solar maximum.
A massive coronal hole like the one
centered on the Sun on Friday, September 2, can erupt with extremely energetic
proton streams. Radiation from the particles poses a threat to humans in space
and spurs strong space weather events that can disrupt communications and other
technology. Courtesy: NASA/SDO.
It’s worth remembering that there has been at least
one “close call” with lunar explorers and potential solar activity. In 1972,
solar storms blasted out past Earth and the Moon. They disrupted satellite
communications as well as ground-based communications systems on Earth.
Luckily, no Apollo missions were impacted, although the storms occurred between
the Apollo 16 and 17 missions. Had they burst out during those missions, things
would have gone badly for the astronauts, who would have been sitting ducks
either on their way to the Moon or while on the surface.
Artemis 1’s Radiation Studies
- Fortunately,
there is a mission to study the radiation environment beyond Earth:
Artemis 1. It’s important during this time as we head into solar maximum.
When it flies, radiation and medical research will be a major focus of that
mission.
- The
Orion capsule has radiation monitors from NASA and ESA on board, along
with specialized test mannequins. There are also CubeSats with experiments
(such as genetically modified yeast that stands in for human reactions to
radiation). These were all designed to study the radiation environment
astronauts will face on the way to the Moon.
- Orion
has radiation shielding, of course, to protect humans and technology.
Future craft such as SpaceX’s Human Landing System will be well-shielded
to protect astronauts on their way to the Moon and back to the planned
Lunar Gateway.
- In
the event of a very severe storm, astronauts could hide in onboard
shelters until it’s safe. That’s what ISS crews did when the Sun let loose
a particularly fierce outburst in September 2017.
For its
part, ESA is working on the European Radiation Sensor Array (ERSA) project.
That’s a series of sensors to give real-time radiation monitoring on board the
future crewed lunar Gateway space station. The idea is to get measurements from
both inside and outside of crew capsules and habitats to understand radiation
risks and leaks. It’s also possible to include radiation sensors on uncrewed
lunar orbiters such as Lunar Pathfinder. Another possibility is to put sensors
on future lunar telecommunication satellites.
Predicting Solar Activity
In addition to shielding our astronauts and lunar explorers, it’s
important to explore the radiation environment between Earth and the Moon as
Artemis will do. But, we need more information about the solar outbursts
themselves. While astronomers know a lot about solar activity, we still need a
solid “early warning system” for solar storms. It could help alert astronauts
and lunar explorers in time to take safety measures.
That’s the goal of space weather researchers around the
world. Early observation of active regions on the solar disk occur is a major
goal of ESA’s 2029 Vigil mission. It will give warnings for potentially
hazardous space weather events that could endanger astronauts and explorers.
Other missions, such as SOHO, STEREO, Solar Dynamics Observatory, and the
Parker Solar Probe, provide valuable long-term data about the Sun’s activity.
-
Aurorae were observed by ESA
astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti aboard the International Space Station
for her Minerva Mission. She shared these images on her social media on 21
August 2022 with the caption: "The Sun has been active lately. Last
week we saw the most stunning auroras I have ever experienced in over 300
days in space!"
Story Source:
Materials provided by Carolyn Collins Petersen, Universe. The original text of this story is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
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