Seems to me a Lead coating (inside the walls and pull-down over the windows) would stop 100% of harmful rays? Or am I mistaken? Any scientists out there?
Posted on 08/01/2005 1:19:26 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Seems to me a Lead coating (inside the walls and pull-down over the windows) would stop 100% of harmful rays? Or am I mistaken? Any scientists out there?
Sheesh! Just fly at night! Problem solved! ;^)
Lead would work very well as radiation sheilding, without a doubt.
Now figure out how to loft enough of it into orbit - that's the issue.
Fly to Saturn inside an MRI machine... fun.
Especially the ovarian cancers. I think.
Now we just need to better understand the processes that cause atrophy and bone loss in zero-G so we can come up with medications to counteract them, and a reliable nuclear drive, and we're all set.
They definitely have no vision or aspirations of any kind for the human race -- except wanting each family to scratch out a primitive existence from the land.
Cosmic rays woulds require yards of lead.
Just one more reason why I prefer time travel.
The ISS is in a low enough orbit that it is protected by the Earth's magnetic field.
Considering the amount of mass they would need for a substantial space program, they ought to get the material from bodies already in space. Moon mining, asteroid mining, that kind of thing.
That approach would work on charged particles, but not on neutral ones. Not sure of the exact compostition of "comic rays' but I bet some of the heavy particals are not charged. Otherwise the solution would be exactly as you suggest and too simple to be over looked by the author of this piece.
"BS! Isn't this what shielding is for?"
One would think so.
> Seems to me a Lead coating (inside the walls and pull-down over the windows) would stop 100% of harmful rays? Or am I mistaken?
You are mistaken. Have you considered how *thick* the lead would have to be... and what effect that mass hit would take on the vehicle?
Lead is not PC
The risks are smaller for older people because cancers have less time to develop. But women are always in more danger than men because they live longer...
The risks are smaller for older people because they grow less new cells. Cells that produce new cells (bone marrow, embryos) are the most susceptible. Nerve cells are almost immune to low level radiation. Women are in more danger, not because of longevity, but because of more new cell production (ovaries, mammaries).
The drinking water used for the mission, if placed around the perimeter of the ship, could reduce neutron radiation exposure. Dense materials (like lead) would have to be used to shield the astronauts from gamma/cosmic radiation. It would be quite expensive to put enough shielding into orbit and then install it on the ship. Not impossible though.
I always thought that heat dissipation would be another significant problem. Any comments?
> I wonder whether running a magnetic field around the ship would serve to sheild the crew
Would help with electrons and protons, but won't do diddly-squat against gamma rays and neutrons, which are the dangerous ones anyway.
Uh ooh, I think we're stuck here for a while. Can't we all just get along?
The logistics of space travel, the distances, time, food, water, engergy are kind of a problem. That's why I don't believe the UFO nuts, earnest though they be.
Question: Since everything on Earth existed since the creation, though some things have changed form, have the space probes that have left Earth's orbit actually changed the planet or are they so infinitesimally small as to make no difference?
Use gold and platinum. By the time they get it launched the original cost of the material wouldn't matter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.