Magnetic shielding for spacecraft

The Space Review ^ | 01/24/05 | Nancy Atkinson

[KevinDavis]

It’s the year 2027 and NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration is progressing right on schedule. The first interplanetary spacecraft with humans aboard is on course for Mars. However, halfway into the trip, a gigantic solar flare erupts, spewing lethal radiation directly at the spacecraft. But, not to worry. Because of research done by former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman and a group of MIT colleagues back in the year 2004, this vehicle has a state-of-the-art superconducting magnetic shielding system that protects the human occupants from any deadly solar emissions.

New research has recently begun to examine the use of superconducting magnet technology to protect astronauts from radiation during long-duration spaceflights, such as the interplanetary flights to Mars that are proposed in NASA’s current Vision for Space Exploration.

[KevinDavis]

Cool.

[KevinDavis]

[sonofatpatcher2]

Bump to read later

[Non-Sequitur]

It’s the year 2027 and NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration is progressing right on schedule.

You can tell this is science fiction. When was the last time something of NASA's progressed right on schedule?

[Coyoteman]

Shields up!

[theFIRMbss]

> state-of-the-art superconducting magnetic shielding system

If I had the stuff, I'd use it for things like this. Hot babes beat spacecraft.

[Born to Conserve]

Link that baby to a naquada (sp?) reactor, and viola, instant wormhole.

[solitas]

Hey - be nice. It doesn't take NASA a whole lot of scheduling ability to sit on it's collective thumb for that length of time.

[Thud]

ping

[Edward Watson]

Actually, Robert Zubrin talked about this in his description of the MAGSAIL. See "Islands in the Sky" Pub 1996. If I'm not mistaken, he's been working on this since 1988 for sure. I don't recall if the idea originated from him or from Dana Andrews.

I've also used the magsail back in 2002 when I described the positioning and placement of a solar power satellite in an NSO, 10 million km from the sun in a feasibility study I created. The only difference is I used a brute force approach for creating a magnetic field, eliminating superconductors since power isn't a problem. Besides, the magnetic field needed to deflect charged particles in earth orbit only amounts to 52 nano-teslas and 11,600 nano-teslas 10 million km from the sun. By way of comparison, a regular refrigerator magnet's field is 4,000 times greater that wha would be required. Insisting on superconductors given the abundance of solar energy seems silly to me.

[techcor]

Bump for cool stuff.

[Dominick]

Sticking on my engineer hat, I did a lot of HTSC work in grad school.

Ceramic superconductors that operate at higher temperatures would deflect differently than an active magnetic field. A layer cooled to superconducting would sustain vortexes of flux, and also exclude flux from without. This would provide the shielding much like a normal Faraday shield. No current would be used or dissipated in a shield, and with proper radiator design, very little coolant would be required. .

In terms for nontechnical types, the tin enclosure of some electronics is a Faraday shield. It grounds the electrical potential cutting down EM waves. Magnetic flux not in a EM wave could penetrate, and a superconductor would act like this, except for magnetic fields. It would also require no power. In satellite design, a watt or two to make a active shield is a lot of power.

[demlosers]

Combine this with other light weight shielding being developed, space radiation is about licked.

[demlosers]

Now if they can discover an elegant way to produce gravity.

[Edward Watson]

thanks for the input. However, the earth's magnetic field isn't based upon superconductivity and is more than sufficient in shileding the earth.

Consequently, to my way of thinking, any magnetic field of sufficient strength to prevent charged particles from punching through is a good thing.

You know, try reading "Islands in the Sky" (Schmidt and Zubrin. Eds). Zubrin makes a compelling case for the Magsail.

[demlosers]

A magnetic shielding system, like the one sketched out above, could protect crews of future missions beyond Earth from hazardous radiation. (credit: J. Hoffman/MIT)

[KevinDavis]

It seems that every argument against humans in space is slowly being chipped away. Step by step..