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Development of Multifunctional Radiation Shielding Materials for Long Duration Human Exploration Beyond the Low Earth OrbitOne of the major challenges for long duration human exploration beyond the low Earth orbit and sustained human presence on planetary surfaces would be development of materials that would help minimize the radiation exposure to crew and equipment from the interplanetary radiation environment, This radiation environment consists primarily of a continuous flux of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and transient but intense fluxes of solar energetic particles (SEP). The potential for biological damage by the relatively low percentage of high-energy heavy-ions in the GCR spectrum far outweigh that due to lighter particles because of their ionizing-power and the quality of the resulting biological damage. Although the SEP spectrum does not contain heavy ions and their energy range is much lower than that for GCRs, they however pose serious risks to astronaut health particularly in the event of a bad solar storm The primary purpose of this paper is to discuss our recent efforts in development and evaluation of materials for minimizing the hazards from the interplanetary radiation environment. Traditionally, addition of shielding materials to spacecrafts has invariably resulted in paying a penalty in terms of additional weight. It would therefore be of great benefit if materials could be developed not only with superior shielding effectiveness but also sufficient structural integrity. Such a multifunctional material could then be considered as an integral part of spacecraft structures. Any proposed radiation shielding material for use in outer space should be composed of nuclei that maximize the likelihood of projectile fragmentation while producing the minimum number of target fragments. A modeling based approach will be presented to show that composite materials using hydrogen-rich epoxy matrices reinforced with polyethylene fibers and/or fabrics could effectively meet this requirement. This paper will discuss the fabrication of such a material for a crewed vehicle. Ln addition, the capability of synthesizing radiation shielding materials for habitat structures primarily from Lunar or Martian in-situ resources will also be presented. Such an approach would significantly _reduce the cost associated with transportation of such materials and structures from earth. Results from radiation exposure measurements will be presented demonstrating the shielding effectiveness of the developed materials. Mechanical testing data will be discussed to illustrate that the specific mechanical properties of the developed composites are comparable to structural aluminum based alloys currently used for the space shuttle and space station.
Document ID
20070038261
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Sen, S.
(BAE Systems Huntsville, AL, United States)
Bhattacharya, M.
(Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Schofield, E.
(Plasma Processes, Inc. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Carranza, S.
(Makel Engineering, Inc. Chico, CA, United States)
O'Dell, S.
(Plasma Processes, Inc. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
September 24, 2007
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Meeting Information
Meeting: 58th International Astronautical Congress
Location: Hyderabad
Country: India
Start Date: September 24, 2007
End Date: September 28, 2007
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS8-02096
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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