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Space Radiation Operations Status, Methods and Needs

Space Radiation Operations Status, Methods and Needs. Neal Zapp, NASA/JSC SRAG. Space Radiation. A Fundamental Problem for NASA’s. Manned. Spaceflight. Objectives. •. Legal, moral and practical considerations require . NASA limit. postflight. risks incurred by humans living .

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Space Radiation Operations Status, Methods and Needs

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  1. Space Radiation OperationsStatus, Methods and Needs Neal Zapp, NASA/JSC SRAG

  2. Space Radiation A Fundamental Problem for NASA’s 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 ExposurePrincipal 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 Team:Space 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-TimeFlight 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 WeatherInformation Flow

  11. Defenses

  12. Measurements • Archival • Environment characterization • Crew medical record input • Crew and area monitors – TLD, OSL, and CR-39 • TLD < 10keV/micron < 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 RadiationMeasurements 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. 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. • Today’s climate dictates a blurring of the lines between “research” and “operations” as applied to space weather.

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