Speaker
Description
Abstract:
Successful ventures into space for scientific or human exploration depend in part on our anticipation of the hazards that are encountered. Although it is inherent in exploration that much is unknown, any efforts to extrapolate to, and bound, the parameters of that unknown can improve our chance of success. Each time we send spacecraft out into space, the radiation environment for that mission needs to be characterized. Situational awareness is useful, particularly for diagnosing problems and informing future missions, but knowing what is happening at the moment is of little use if the spacecraft design did not anticipate that environment. Accomplishing this requires that the spacecraft have a radiation design specification, or "spec", to quantify the hazards the designers have to address in their spacecraft design. The presentation will provide an example of a radiation design spec and discuss areas in which new scientific insight is needed.
This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Government sponsorship acknowledged.
