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#31
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Radiation a Mars trip hazard?
Brian Trosko wrote in message ...
Won't effect neutrons, won't deflect high-energy photons. High-energy photons hit the ship, you get a cascade of other high-energy particles. Do you mean photons or protons cause cascades? I know protons do. They're being looked at as sources of spallation neutrons in some "waste burning" nuclear reactors. But photons? Mike Miller, Materials Engineer |
#32
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Radiation a Mars trip hazard?
Mike Miller wrote:
Do you mean photons or protons cause cascades? I know protons do. They're being looked at as sources of spallation neutrons in some "waste burning" nuclear reactors. But photons? Photons produce an electromagnetic cascade by pair production and bremsstrahlung. There are also photonuclear reactions, but these are relatively less important. Photons do not make up much of the cosmic ray load, though. Paul |
#33
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Radiation a Mars trip hazard?
Brian Trosko wrote in message ...
Toprope wrote: What about making a large magnetic field by creating a large cage around the ship? Doesn't use much mass and you get a large field. But it would need to be strong enough to maintain shape while the ship accelerates. A large magnetic field could use little energy to deflect radiation and create a radiation free area. Won't effect neutrons, won't deflect high-energy photons. High-energy photons hit the ship, you get a cascade of other high-energy particles. As Paul pointed out, photons with sufficient energy to do this do not constitute a hazard on their own (since they make up such a small fraction of cosmic radiation). Additionally, neutrons won't be much of a problem either since they are a very low proportion of the cosmic radiation (effectively zero). Solitary neutrons have a half-life of only a few minutes, so they don't tend to get very far away from their source at sub-light speeds. |
#34
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Radiation a Mars trip hazard?
"Paul F. Dietz" writes:
Mike Miller wrote: Do you mean photons or protons cause cascades? I know protons do. They're being looked at as sources of spallation neutrons in some "waste burning" nuclear reactors. But photons? Photons produce an electromagnetic cascade by pair production and bremsstrahlung. There are also photonuclear reactions, but these are relatively less important. Photons do not make up much of the cosmic ray load, though. ....However, solar flares _do_ produce a respectable burst of hard X-rays and soft gammas, exposure to which is not particularly good for one's health... -- Gordon D. Pusch perl -e '$_ = \n"; s/NO\.//; s/SPAM\.//; print;' |
#35
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Radiation a Mars trip hazard?
Gordon D. Pusch wrote:
...However, solar flares _do_ produce a respectable burst of hard X-rays and soft gammas, exposure to which is not particularly good for one's health... I believe these will also be a small fraction of the radiation dose from the flare. Most will come from charged particles. Pul |
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