Dr
Petteri Nieminen
(ESA)
The space radiation environment is a highly variable and dynamic one, with a number of constituent particle sources that need to be individually considered depending on the type of space mission planned. The Galactic Cosmic Rays form a slowly varying higher-energy background over the 11-year solar cycle, on top of which the sporadic, lower-energy, but essentially unpredictable Solar Particle Events with their proton emissions feature especially during the Solar Maximum periods.
In the case of operations in Earth orbit, or for transits from the Earth to deep space, a degree of protection from these external charged particle sources is offered by the Earth's magnetic field, but on the other hand the Earth's trapped electron and proton radiation belts need to be considered. For large-scale space structures, such as the International Space Station or possible future Exploration missions, or for eventual lunar or planetary surface operations, the secondary particle background from Cosmic Ray fragmentation and neutron production is significant enough for it be taken into account in mission design as well as in operational planning.
This presentation gives a summary overview of these various space radiation environment sources, together with a brief description of the different models available for their prediction. Some current ESA projects, observational activities and experimental results in this domain are also outlined.
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Dr. Petteri Nieminen has worked in the European Space Agency on various space radiation environments and effects issues since 1997. He has been the ESA Technical Officer for some 30 R&D projects in the domain, and is the sensor designer and co-PI of the ESA Standard Radiation Environment Monitor (SREM), currently flying and producing data on 6 ESA missions, as well as the coordinator of various other ESA radiation instrument activities. Together with ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang, he initiated the DESIRE project that simulated the radiation levels in the European Columbus module of the International Space Station. He is also the ESA representative in the Oversight Board of the Geant4 Collaboration, a joint activity of CERN, ESA, and a number of other institutes and laboratories world-wide.
Dr
Petteri Nieminen
(ESA)
