The Carnival of Space 310 is up at Chandra Xray Space Telescope Blog
It isn't everyday that the mainstream news covers space activities. CNN has a nice article on possible plasma shields for spacecraft.
Scientists at the UK's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) plan is to create an environment around the spacecraft that mimics the Earth's magnetic field and recreates the protection we enjoy on the ground -- they call it a mini magnetosphere.
Note- Nextbigfuture did cover the Rutherford Appleton Laborator minimag radiation shielding work back in 2011
There was a 15 page powerpoint from 2010 that described the work at UK's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
When the neutral plasma encounters the magnetic field boundary the electrons are more easily deflected than the ions and thus charge separation occurs, resulting in the build-up of a large electric field which further strengthens the barrier.
RAL’s Ruth Bamford thought it should be possible, using a combination of the AMPTE-style plasma bubble and the JET-style magnetic field bubble to form an effective Mini-Magnetosphere.
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"On Earth, mostly we're protected by the atmosphere but ultimately what the Earth's magnetic field is doing is forming a first line of protection for life," explained Bamford.
"The concept behind what we're suggesting is due to the evolution in our understanding of plasmas. What we discovered is that if you put a magnetic field around an object in a flowing plasma, the electrons, which are very light, will follow the new magnetic field that you've put there but the ions, the very fast ions, will overshoot -- they won't follow the magnetic field lines.
"You end up with a constant electric field that can be enough that it actually refracts or deflects enough of the radiation from inside the magnetic cavity that you've formed to protect the astronauts ... enough like the Earth that they can survive."
The RAL deflector shield she has helped to develop has been tested on a model inside a fusion reactor which produces a plasma like that of the solar wind. Bamford said they were delighted with the results.
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It isn't everyday that the mainstream news covers space activities. CNN has a nice article on possible plasma shields for spacecraft.
Scientists at the UK's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) plan is to create an environment around the spacecraft that mimics the Earth's magnetic field and recreates the protection we enjoy on the ground -- they call it a mini magnetosphere.
Note- Nextbigfuture did cover the Rutherford Appleton Laborator minimag radiation shielding work back in 2011
There was a 15 page powerpoint from 2010 that described the work at UK's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
When the neutral plasma encounters the magnetic field boundary the electrons are more easily deflected than the ions and thus charge separation occurs, resulting in the build-up of a large electric field which further strengthens the barrier.
RAL’s Ruth Bamford thought it should be possible, using a combination of the AMPTE-style plasma bubble and the JET-style magnetic field bubble to form an effective Mini-Magnetosphere.
"On Earth, mostly we're protected by the atmosphere but ultimately what the Earth's magnetic field is doing is forming a first line of protection for life," explained Bamford.
"The concept behind what we're suggesting is due to the evolution in our understanding of plasmas. What we discovered is that if you put a magnetic field around an object in a flowing plasma, the electrons, which are very light, will follow the new magnetic field that you've put there but the ions, the very fast ions, will overshoot -- they won't follow the magnetic field lines.
"You end up with a constant electric field that can be enough that it actually refracts or deflects enough of the radiation from inside the magnetic cavity that you've formed to protect the astronauts ... enough like the Earth that they can survive."
The RAL deflector shield she has helped to develop has been tested on a model inside a fusion reactor which produces a plasma like that of the solar wind. Bamford said they were delighted with the results.
Read more »
