Assessment of Radiation Shielding Properties of Novel and Baseline Materials External to ISS

In 2014, NASA EPSCoR funded the “Radiation Smart Structures with H-rich Nanostructural Multifunctional Materials” project (contract # NNX14AN41A) to develop new multifunctional materials to shield space crews from the ionizing radiation environment encountered during space flight. This project also includes a major component to test the radiation shielding properties of these novel materials using ground-based particle accelerators and computer model-based simulations. A number of promising new materials have been developed as a result of this work, in particular a hydrogen-rich carbon fiber composite suitable for use in the fabrication of high-pressure storage tanks for oxygen, water and other consumables needed during space flight and in the pressure vessel of the space craft or planetary habitat. In response to the NASA EPSCoR ISS Flight Opportunity CAN of 12/5/2016, we propose an experiment to test and measure the radiation shielding and other properties of our multifunctional materials in the actual space environment external to the International Space Station (ISS). The proposed experiment would consist of mounting samples of the multifunctional materials, as well as samples of a number of baseline materials such as aluminum, polyethylene and copper, on the existing Materials for ISS Experiment (MISSE) [1,2] platform. Another possibility would be to use a NanoRacks external platform [3]. Passive radiation detectors in the form of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detector (PNTD) and thermoluminscence detector (TLD) will be placed behind the material samples at varying depths in order to measure the Linear Energy Transfer (LET) spectrum, absorbed dose, and the biologically weighted dose equivalent as a function of depth behind the materials. These types of detectors require no electrical power and have been successfully used by the proposers on several previous experiments to measure ionizing radiation outside spacecraft [4-8]. The proposed experiment is highly feasible, not only in terms of the proposed budget ($90K), but also in terms of the five (5) feasibility criteria listed in Section 1.5 of the CAN. By using existing facilities (MISSE or NanoRacks), hardware costs are minimal and time to flight is less than 1 year, crew time is already allocated as part of the larger MISSE or NanoRacks programs, the experiment does not require power, and the physical space requirements are already allocated, again as part of the larger MISSE or NanoRacks programs. Previous experience with measuring radiation on the exterior of spacecraft indicates a strong likelihood of success.

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