RESUMO
Measurements on board the MIR space station by the Bulgarian-Russian dosimeter LIULIN have been used to study the solar cycle variations of the radiation environment. The fixed locations of the instrument in the MIR manned compartment behind 6-15 g/cm2 of shielding have given homogeneous series of particle fluxes and doses measurements to be collected during the declining phase of 22nd solar cycle between September 1989 and April 1994. During the declining phase of 22nd solar cycle the GCR (Galactic Cosmic Rays) flux observed at L>4 (where L is the McIlwain parameter) has enhanced from 0.6-0.7 cm-2 s-1 up to 1.4-1.6 cm-2 s-1. The long-term observations of the trapped radiation can be summarized as follows: the main maximum of the flux and dose rate is located at the southeast side of the geomagnetic field minimum of South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) at L=1.3-1.4. Protons depositing few (nGy cm2)/particle in the detector predominantly populate this region. At practically the same spatial location and for similar conditions the dose rate rises up from 480 to 1470 microGy/h dose in silicon in the 1990-1994 time interval, during the declining phase of the solar cycle. On the other hand the flux rises from 35 up to 115 cm-2 s-1 for the same period of time. A power law dependence was extracted which predicts that when the total neutral density at the altitude of the station decreases from 8x10(-15) to 6x10(-16) g/cm3 the dose increase from about 200 microGy/h up to 1200 microGy/h. At the same time the flux increase from about 30 cm-2 s-1 up to 120 cm-2 s-1. The AP8 model predictions give only 5.8% increase of the flux for the same conditions.
Assuntos
Radiação Cósmica , Monitoramento de Radiação/instrumentação , Atividade Solar , Voo Espacial/instrumentação , Astronave/instrumentação , Oceano Atlântico , Atmosfera/química , Modelos Teóricos , Doses de Radiação , Radiometria , América do Sul , Ausência de PesoRESUMO
The Mir station has been in a 51.65 degrees inclination orbit since March 1986. In March 1995, the first US astronaut flew on the Mir-18 mission and returned on the Space Shuttle in July 1995. Since then three additional US astronauts have stayed on orbit for up to 6 months. Since the return of the first US astronaut, both the Spektr and Priroda modules have docked with Mir station, altering the mass shielding distribution. Radiation measurements, including the direct comparison of US and Russian absorbed dose rates in the Base Block of the Mir station, were made during the Mir-18 and -19 missions. There is a significant variation of dose rates across the core module; the six locations sampled showed a variation of a factor of nearly two. A tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) measured a total absorbed dose rate of 300 microGy/day, roughly equally divided between the rate due to trapped protons from the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and galactic cosmic radiation (GCR). This dose rate is about a factor of two lower than the rate measured by the thinly shielded (0.5 g cm-2 of Al) operational ion chamber (R-16), and about 3/2 of the rate of the more heavily shielded (3.5 g cm-2 of Al) ion chamber. This is due to the differences in the mass shielding properties at the location of these detectors. A comparison of integral linear energy transfer (LET) spectra measured by TEPC and plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTDs) deployed side by side are in remarkable agreement in the LET region of 15-1000 keV/micrometer, where the PNTDs are fully efficient. The average quality factor, using the ICRP-26 definition, was 2.6, which is higher than normally used. There is excellent agreement between the measured GCR dose rate and model calculations, but this is not true for trapped protons. The measured Mir-18 crew skin dose equivalent rate was 1133 microSv/day. Using the skin dose rate and anatomical models, we have estimated the blood-forming organ (BFO) dose rate and the maximum stay time in orbit for International Space Station crew members.
Assuntos
Radiação Cósmica , Prótons , Monitoramento de Radiação/instrumentação , Atividade Solar , Voo Espacial/instrumentação , Oceano Atlântico , Sistema Hematopoético/efeitos da radiação , Humanos , Transferência Linear de Energia , Doses de Radiação , Proteção Radiológica , Radiometria/instrumentação , Federação Russa , Pele/efeitos da radiação , América do Sul , Astronave/instrumentação , Estados Unidos , United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration , Ausência de PesoRESUMO
In March 1991 the CRRES spacecraft measured a new transient radiation belt resulting from a solar proton event and subsequent geomagnetic disturbance. The presence of this belt was also noted by dosimeter-radiometers aboard the Mir space station (approx. 400 km, 51 degrees orbit) and by particle telescopes on the NOAA-10 spacecraft (850 km, 98 degrees). This event provides a unique opportunity to compare particle flux and dose measurements made by different instruments in different orbits under changing conditions. We present here a comparison of the measurements made by the different detectors. We discuss the topology and dynamics of the transient radiation belt over a period of more than one year.
Assuntos
Prótons , Atividade Solar , Voo Espacial/instrumentação , Astronave/instrumentação , Oceano Atlântico , Planeta Terra , Elétrons , Meio Ambiente Extraterreno , Magnetismo , Doses de Radiação , Monitoramento de Radiação/instrumentação , Monitoramento de Radiação/métodos , Radiometria , América do SulRESUMO
Models of the radiation belts that are currently used to estimate exposure for astronauts describe the environment at times of either solar minimum or solar maximum. Static models, constructed using data acquired prior to 1970 during a solar cycle with relatively low solar radio flux, have flux uncertainties of a factor of two to live and dose-rate uncertainties of a factor of about two. The inability of these static models to provide a dynamic description of the radiation belt environment limits our ability to predict radiation exposures for long-duration missions in low earth orbits. In an attempt to add some predictive capability of these models, we studied the measured daily absorbed dose rate on the Mir orbital station over roughly the complete 22nd solar cycle that saw some of the highest solar flux values in the last 40 y. We show that the daily trapped particle dose rate is an approximate power law function of daily atmospheric density. Atmospheric density values are in turn obtained from standard correlation with observed solar radio noise flux. This correlation improves, particularly during periods of high solar activity, if the density at roughly 400 days earlier time is used. This study suggests the possibility of a dose- and flux-predictive trapped-belt model based on atmospheric density.
Assuntos
Atmosfera , Radiação Cósmica , Modelos Teóricos , Prótons , Atividade Solar , Voo Espacial/instrumentação , Medicina Aeroespacial , Astronautas , Oceano Atlântico , Humanos , Doses de Radiação , América do Sul , Astronave/instrumentação , Ausência de PesoRESUMO
A joint NASA Russia study of the radiation environment inside the Space Shuttle was performed on STS-63. This was the second flight under the Shuttle-Mir Science Program (Phase 1). The Shuttle was launched on 2 February 1995, in a 51.65 degrees inclination orbit and landed at Kennedy Space Center on 11 February 1995, for a total flight duration of 8.27 days. The Shuttle carried a complement of both passive and active detectors distributed throughout the Shuttle volume. The crew exposure varied from 1962 to 2790 microGy with an average of 2265.8 microGy or 273.98 microGy/day. Crew exposures varied by a factor of 1.4, which is higher than usual for STS mission. The flight altitude varied from 314 to 395 km and provided a unique opportunity to obtain dose variation with altitude. Measurements of the average east-west dose variation were made using two active solid state detectors. The dose rate in the Spacehab locker, measured using a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC), was 413.3 microGy/day, consistent with measurements made using thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs) in the same locker. The average quality factor was 2.33, and although it was higher than model calculations, it was consistent with values derived from high temperature peaks in TLDs. The dose rate due to galactic cosmic radiation was 110.6 microGy/day and agreed with model calculations. The dose rate from trapped particles was 302.7 microGy/day, nearly a factor of 2 lower than the prediction of the AP8 model. The neutrons in the intermediate energy range of 1-20 MeV contributed 13 microGy/day and 156 microSv/day, respectively. Analysis of data from the charged particle spectrometer has not yet been completed.
Assuntos
Radiação Cósmica , Prótons , Monitoramento de Radiação/instrumentação , Voo Espacial , Oceano Atlântico , Transferência Linear de Energia , Modelos Teóricos , Doses de Radiação , Proteção Radiológica , Radiometria , Federação Russa , América do Sul , Astronave , Dosimetria Termoluminescente , Estados Unidos , United States National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationRESUMO
A tissue equivalent proportional counter designed to measure the linear energy transfer spectra (LET) in the range 0.2-1250 keV/micrometer was flown in the Kvant module on the Mir orbital station during September 1994. The spacecraft was in a 51.65 degrees inclination, elliptical (390 x 402 km) orbit. This is nearly the lower limit of its flight altitude. The total absorbed dose rate measured was 411.3 +/- 4.41 microGy/day with an average quality factor of 2.44. The galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) dose rate was 133.6 microGy/day with a quality factor of 3.35. The trapped radiation belt dose rate was 277.7 microGy/day with an average quality factor of 1.94. The peak rate through the South Atlantic Anomaly was approximately 12 microGy/min and nearly constant from one pass to another. A detailed comparison of the measured LET spectra has been made with radiation transport models. The GCR results are in good agreement with model calculations; however, this is not the case for radiation belt particles and again points to the need for improving the AP8 omni-directional trapped proton models.