Storm deflector: The Earth's magnetic shield naturally deflects solar radiation from the Sun (coming from the left of image). Now experts think the same principle could be used to protect spaceships too.
Credit: NASA
His team's study draws on numerical simulation that is also used by experts in nuclear fusion, in which a hot plasma is kept in place by a powerful magnetic field. This number-crunching technology gives a far more accurate picture of how individual particles behave when they collide with a two-pole magnetic field.
As a result, the researchers have been able to devise a smarter, miniaturised model of magnetic protection rather than the blunderbuss-style field generator that was envisaged in the past.
"mini magnetosphere"
Using a plasma lab at the Superior Technical Institute in Lisbon, Portugal, the team tested a scaled down version of the device – its full details are secret, as patents are being sought – in a simulation of a solar storm of atomic particles.
Scaled up for a trip to Mars, the device would weigh around "several hundred kilos" and use only about a kilowatt of energy, or around one half to one third of the typical power consumption of today's communications satellites, said Bingham.
The force of the magnetic field would replicate that of the Earth's own, but, to minimise any risk to crew close to its source, could be carried in unmanned spacecraft flying either side of the crewship.
Bingham said the "mini magnetosphere" was being pitched both to the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. It would scatter almost all particles dispatched in "solar storms" – protons belched out by the Sun, he said.
Kevlar waistcoat
It would not work against a somewhat less dangerous problem, of high-energy cosmic rays that fly across interstellar distances, but the ship could be swathed with material, like a kevlar bullet-proof waistcoat, against that threat.
"It certainly will be the answer if we go to Mars, because going to Mars will take about 18 months and we need to protect the astronauts against these storms," said Bingham.
In 2001, a NASA study found that at least 39 former astronauts suffered cataracts after flying in space, 36 of whom had taken part in missions beyond Earth's orbit. Cataracts are also a problem for pilots who spend a lot of time flying high in Earth's atmosphere.
In another study, the agency has tentatively estimated that a trip to Mars and back would give a 40-year-old non-smoking man a 40 per cent risk of developing fatal cancer after he returned to Earth, or twice the terrestrial risk.
"In 2001, a NASA study found
"In 2001, a NASA study found that at least 39 former astronauts suffered cataracts after flying in space, 36 of whom had taken part in missions beyond Earth's orbit."
Only crews of Apollo 8,10-17 left LEO, therefore 9*3 =27 (!)
astronauts had taken part in missions beyond Earth's orbit.
What about ones who have gone to Hubble?
What about ones who have gone to Hubble? Isn't that outside of low earth orbit? Just a guess...