Space Radiation Operations Status, Methods and Needs

1
Space Radiation OperationsStatus, Methods and
Needs

• Neal Zapp, NASA/JSC SRAG

2
Space Radiation
A Fundamental Problem for NASAs
Manned
Spaceflight
Objectives

Legal, moral and practical considerations require
NASA limit
postflight
risks incurred by humans living
and working in space to acceptable levels

Radiation protection is essential to enable
humans to
live and work safely in space

Astronaut radiation protection is addressed as
part of
the
NASA Strategic Plan
3
Radiation Exposure Principal Health Risks

• Acute affects of PRIMAR
• Affects potentially range from mild and
  recoverable to death
• Much higher risk for exploration than for
  STS/ISS/LEO
• Long-term risks
• Cancer risk increase
• Cataracts
• Increase in cancer risk is principal concern for
  astronaut exposure to space radiation for ISS
• For exploration acute effects/syndromes become
  much more an operational possibility

4
NASA Mission Support TeamSpace Radiation
Analysis Group

• Provide preflight crew exposure projections
• Provide real-time astronaut radiation protection
  support
• Provide radiation monitoring to meet medical and
  legal requirements
• Small group of health physicists, physicists, and
  programmers
• 4 civil servants
• 7-8 contractors

5
SRAG Real-Time Flight Support

• Man console in Mission Control Center-Houston
  (MCC-H) 4 hr/day during nominal conditions
• Man console in MCC-H

continuously during significant space weather
activity and all EVA's
6
Space EnvironmentSupport Teams

• NOAA Space Environment Center/Space Weather
  Operations (NOAA SWO)
• Principle organization for providing space
  weather support to civilian customers
• Space weather equivalent to National Weather
  Service

7
Our Eyes
8
Environment
9
Environment
10
Operational Space Weather Information Flow
11
Defenses
Protection Method Current Maturity
Orbital Parameters H H H H H
Mission Duration H H H H
Shielding H H ½
Monitoring H H H H
Measuring H H H
Predicting/Forecasting H H
Phase of Solar Cycle H H H H H
Knowledge
Space weather phenomenology H H H
Solar activityterrestrial response coupling H H H
Radiation environment inside geomagnetosphere H H H
Radiation exposure monitoring H H H
Nuclear interactions H H H H
Human response to radiation exposure H H ½
Human exposure risk assessment H H ½
12
Measurements

• Archival
• Environment characterization
• Crew medical record input
• Crew and area monitors TLD, OSL,
• and CR-39
• TLD lt 10keV/micron lt CR-39
• Operational or real-time
• Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter
• Charged particle spectroscopy
• Intravehicular (IV-CPDS)
• Extravehicular (EV-CPDS, multi-axis)
• IP monitoring

13
NASA Passive and Active Radiation Measurements in
ISS Orbit
14
Results--Individual RAM Exposure Rates Relative
to Vehicle Average
SM SleepStations
Lab Window
Airlock
Near CWCsin Node
Aft End of SM,Near Treadmill
TeSS
15
Design and Vehicle Evaluation
16
Vehicle Shielding Additions
ISS US LAB
17
Exploration

• Requirements Generation
• Crew exposure limits
• Vehicle design limits (human exposure) SPE
  driven
• Measurements mission phase / type
• Mass, time, complexity, budgetary constraints,
  etc.

18
Design of Orion
HOT
COOL
August 22nd, 2006 Bob Rutledge, NASA JSC
19
(No Transcript)
20
Final Thoughts

• Must assume that the question of mission and/or
  crew safety impact of space weather operations is
  a when, not an if.
• Highest risk mission element is surface EVA
• Operations depends on monitoring and forecasting
• Measuring and understanding the space weather
  environment (dynamics) is a direct enabler of
  space exploration.
• Todays climate dictates a blurring of the lines
  between research and operations as applied to
  space weather.