MISSFIT: Monte-Carlo Simulations of Particle Trajectories in a Magnetic Field*

MISSFIT is an interdisciplinary student-led collaboration whose goal is to design a magnetic shielding system that would protect the crew of spacecrafts from solar and cosmic radiation. This magnetic field would deflect charged particles or direct them into bubbles of gas where they lose their energy. Our Radiation Subgroup has collected and organized large quantities of data on interplanetary radiation from Solar Wind and GCRs. These data are fed into a particle tracking code. We are currently working on a Monte Carlo simulation to test different configurations and strengths of the magnetic field and the ionizing gas. The code generates a magnetic field using boundary conditions on the A-field and a relaxation method. It then selects ranges of data for a specified radiation type and generates events. The code tracks the relativistic particles through the magnetic field with energy losses in the gas bubbles provided by SRIM code.  Initial calculations have shown that it is possible to practically remove all radiation from the interior of the spacecraft.