A Mission to Mars: Prediction of GCR Doses and Comparison with Astronaut Dose Limits

Author:

Ramos Ricardo L.1,Carante Mario P.12ORCID,Ferrari Alfredo3,Sala Paola4ORCID,Vercesi Valerio1ORCID,Ballarini Francesca12ORCID

Affiliation:

1. INFN, Sezione di Pavia, Via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy

2. Physics Department, University of Pavia, Via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy

3. Institute for Astroparticle Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

4. INFN, Sezione di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy

Abstract

Long-term human space missions such as a future journey to Mars could be characterized by several hazards, among which radiation is one the highest-priority problems for astronaut health. In this work, exploiting a pre-existing interface between the BIANCA biophysical model and the FLUKA Monte Carlo transport code, a study was performed to calculate astronaut absorbed doses and equivalent doses following GCR exposure under different shielding conditions. More specifically, the interface with BIANCA allowed us to calculate both the RBE for cell survival, which is related to non-cancer effects, and that for chromosome aberrations, related to the induction of stochastic effects, including cancer. The results were then compared with cancer and non-cancer astronaut dose limits. Concerning the stochastic effects, the equivalent doses calculated by multiplying the absorbed dose by the RBE for chromosome aberrations (“high-dose method”) were similar to those calculated using the Q-values recommended by ICRP. For a 650-day mission at solar minimum (representative of a possible Mars mission scenario), the obtained values are always lower than the career limit recommended by ICRP (1 Sv), but higher than the limit of 600 mSv recently adopted by NASA. The comparison with the JAXA limits is more complex, since they are age and sex dependent. Concerning the deterministic limits, even for a 650-day mission at solar minimum, the values obtained by multiplying the absorbed dose by the RBE for cell survival are largely below the limits established by the various space agencies. Following this work, BIANCA, interfaced with an MC transport code such as FLUKA, can now predict RBE values for cell death and chromosome aberrations following GCR exposure. More generally, both at solar minimum and at solar maximum, shielding of 10 g/cm2 Al seems to be a better choice than 20 g/cm2 for astronaut protection against GCR.

Funder

INFN

Regione Lombardia

Italian University and Research Ministry

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Inorganic Chemistry,Organic Chemistry,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry,Computer Science Applications,Spectroscopy,Molecular Biology,General Medicine,Catalysis

Reference51 articles.

1. The effects of microgravity and space radiation on cardiovascular health: From low-Earth orbit and beyond;Patel;Int. J. Cardiol. Heart. Vasc.,2020

2. Cosmic radiation exposure and persistent cognitive dysfunction;Parihar;Sci. Rep.,2016

3. Reynolds, R.J. (2020). Beyond LEO-Human Health Issues for Deep Space Exploration, IntechOpen.

4. Effects of isolation and confinement on humans-implications for manned space explorations;Pagel;J. Appl. Physiol.,2016

5. DNA fragmentation induced in human fibroblasts by 56Fe ions: Experimental data and MC simulations;Campa;Radiat. Res.,2009

Cited by 2 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3