A study of the radiation environment on board the Space Shuttle flight STS-57

A joint NASA-Russian study of the radiation environment inside a SPACEHAB 2 locker on Space Shuttle flight STS-57 was conducted. The Shuttle flew in a nearly circular orbit of 28.5 degrees inclination and 462 km altitude. The locker carried a charged particle spectrometer, a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC), and two area passive detectors consisting of combined NASA plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTDs) and thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs), and Russian nuclear emulsions, PNTDs and TLDs. All the detector systems were shielded by the same Shuttle mass distribution. This makes possible a direct comparison of the various dose measurement techniques. In addition, measurements of the neutron energy spectrum were made using the proton recoil technique. The results show good agreement between the integral LET spectrum of the combined galactic and trapped particles using the tissue equivalent proportional counter and track detectors between about 15 keV/micrometers and 200 keV/micrometers. The LET spectrum determined from nuclear emulsions was systematically lower by about 50%, possibly due to emulsion fading. The results show that the TEPC measured an absorbed dose 20% higher than the TLDs, due primarily to an increased TEPC response to neutrons and a low sensitivity of TLDs to high LET particles under normal processing techniques. There is a significant flux of high energy neutrons that is currently not taken into consideration in dose equivalent calculations. The results of the analysis of the spectrometer data will be reported separately.     

Intercomparison of radiation measurements on STS-63

A joint NASA Russia study of the radiation environment inside the Space Shuttle was performed on STS-63. This was the second flight under the Shuttle-Mir Science Program (Phase 1). The Shuttle was launched on 2 February 1995, in a 51.65° inclination orbit and landed at Kennedy Space Center on 11 February 1995, for a total flight duration of 8.27 days. The Shuttle carried a complement of both passive and active detectors distributed throughout the Shuttle volume. The crew exposure varied from 1962 to 2790 μGy with an average of 2265.8 μGy or 273.98 μGy/day. Crew exposures varied by a factor of 1.4, which is higher than usual for STS mission. The flight altitude varied from 314 to 395 km and provided a unique opportunity to obtain dose variation with altitude. Measurements of the average east-west dose variation were made using two active solid state detectors. The dose rate in the Spacehab locker, measured using a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC), was 413.3 μGy/day, consistent with measurements made using thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs) in the same locker. The average quality factor was 2.33, and although it was higher than model calculations, it was consistent with values derived from high temperature peaks in TLDs. The dose rate due to galactic cosmic radiation was 110.6 μGy/day and agreed with model calculations. The dose rate from trapped particles was 302.7 μGy/day, nearly a factor of 2 lower than the prediction of the AP8 model. The neutrons in the intermediate energy range of 1–20 MeV contributed 13 μGy/day and 156 μSv/day, respectively. Analysis of data from the charged particle spectrometer has not yet been completed.     

Secondary particle contribution to LET spectra on LDEF

Four experiments utilizing passive detectors (P0006, P0004, A0015, M0004) were flown on LDEF to study the radiation environment. These experiments have been summarized in a companion paper (Benton et al., 1996). One of the experimental goals was to measure LET spectra at different locations and shielding depths with plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTD). It was found that the LET spectra extended well above the LET cutoff imposed by the geomagnetic field on GCR particle penetration into LEO. The high LET particles detected were mostly short-range (range < 2000 μm), indicating that they were secondaries produced locally within the PNTD. The presence of these high LET particle fluences is important for the determination of dose equivalent because of the high Quality Factors (Q) involved. A relatively small fraction of particle fluence can contribute a large fraction of dose equivalent.

Short-range, inelastic secondary particles produced by trapped protons in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) were found to be a major contributor to the LET spectra above 100 keV/μm. The LET spectra were found to extend beyond the 137 keV/μm relativistic GCR Fe peak to over 1000 keV/μm. The high LET tail of the LET spectra was measured in CR-39 and polycarbonate PNTDs using different techniques. GCR made a relatively modest contribution to the LET spectra as compared to the contributions from short-range secondary particles and stopping protons.

LET spectra intercomparisons were made between LDEF measurements and exposures to 154 MeV accelerated proton beams. The similarities support the role of nuclear interactions by trapped protons as the major source of secondary particles in the PNTDs. Also techniques were employed to reduce the range cutoff for detection of the short-range secondaries to 1 μm, so that essentially all secondary particles were included in the LET spectra. This has allowed a more realistic assessment of secondary contribution to dose equivalent.

Comparisons of measured and calculated LET spectra have been made that demonstrate the need for more accurate modeling of secondary particles in radiation transport codes. Comparisons include preliminary calculations in which attempts have been made to include secondary particles.     

Absorbed dose measurements on LDEF and comparisons with predictions

The radiation environment on LDEF was monitored by cumulative absorbed dose measurements made with TLDs at different locations and shielding depths. The TLDs were included in four experiments: A0015(a) Biostack, P0004 Seeds in Space and P0006 Linear Energy Transfer Spectrum Measurements at the trailing edge (west side) of the satellite; M0004 Fiber Optics Data Link at the leading edge (east side); and A0015(b) Biostack at the Earth side. The shielding depths varied between 0.48 and 15.4 g/cm², Al equivalent. Both the directional dependence of trapped protons incident on the satellite and the shielding thickness were reflected in absorbed dose values.

The trapped proton anisotropy was measured by TLDs at the east and west sides of LDEF. At the east side doses ranged from 2.10 to 2.58 Gy under shielding of 2.90 to 1.37 g/cm² (M0004) while on the west side doses ranged from 2.66 to 6.48 Gy under shielding of 15.4 to 0.48 g/cm² (P0006). The west side doses were more than a factor of two higher, where the vertical shielding thicknesses to space were equal. Other west side doses of 3.04 to 4.49 Gy under shielding of 11.7 to 3.85 g/cm² (A0015(a)) and 2.91 to 6.64 Gy under shielding of 11.1 to 0.48 g/cm² (P0004) generally agreed with the P0006 results. The Earth side doses of 2.41 to 3.93 Gy under shielding of 10.0 to 1.66 g/cm² (A0015(b)) were intermediate between the east side and west side doses.

Calculations utilizing a model of trapped proton spectra were performed by Watts et al. (1993) and comparisons of dose measurement and calculations may be found in a companion paper (Armstrong et al., 1996).