Spacecraft shield for Mars mission
Posted on 4 November 2008
A major obstacle to deep space travel is ‘space weather’, radiation from the sun and cosmic rays which can damage astronauts’ health. Solar energetic particles pose a particular threat and can occur in large numbers with little warning.
These are very encouraging preliminary results and there are now plans for more detailed testing
Dr Kieran Gibson
The length of time involved in a journey to Mars increases the likelihood of a spacecraft encountering one of these ‘storms’ beyond the safety afforded by the Earth’s magnetic field, known as the magnetosphere.
Since the 1960s, scientists have considered ways of spacecraft generating their own magnetosphere as a means of protection but it was thought to be impractical as a very large bubble would be required.
However, new research involving scientists from the University of York, working with colleagues at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, the University of Strathclyde and IST Lisbon, shows it could work on a much smaller scale.
University of York researchers have led laboratory experiments designed to replicate the energetic "plasma" particles that come from the sun. This, in turn, has allowed tests of how effective different magnetic field configurations are at deflecting such particles. The results are published today in the journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.
Dr Kieran Gibson, from the University’s Department of Physics, said: "These are very encouraging preliminary results and there are now plans for more detailed testing which could ultimately lead to a viable spacecraft protection system."
The laboratory tests confirm the results of computer simulations developed by a team in Lisbon with scientists at Rutherford Appleton last year which showed that, theoretically, a magnetic bubble just a few hundred metres across would be enough to offer protection.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- More information about the University of York’s Department of Physics is available at www.york.ac.uk/depts/phys/.
- The paper The Interactions of a flowing plasma with a dipole magnetic field: measurements and modelling of a diamagnetic cavity relevant to spacecraft protection (R Bamford et al 2008) is available at www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0741-3335/50/12/124025.