Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2019
Volume 64, Number 3
Saturday–Tuesday, April 13–16, 2019; Denver, Colorado
Session E01: Poster Session I (5:45pm-7:45pm)
5:45 PM,
Saturday, April 13, 2019
Sheraton
Room: Plaza Foyer
Abstract: E01.00049 : MAGNETO-IONIZATION SPACECRAFT SHIELD FOR INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL: RADIATION ABSORPTION EXPERIMENTS*
Presenter:
Trace Johnson
(Drake University)
Authors:
Trace Johnson
(Drake University)
Keegan Finger
(Drake University)
Lorien A MacEnulty
(Drake University)
Melanie Schnurr
(Drake University)
William Thomas
(Drake University)
Brandon Lyon
(Drake University)
Sean Cusick
(Drake University)
David Atri-Schuller
(Drake University)
Molly K McCord
(Drake University)
Daniel Madison
(Drake University)
Gavin Menning
(Drake University)
Athanasios N Petridis
(Drake University)
The conceptual design of our group’s spacecraft shield consists of two gas bubbles at
either pole of the spacecraft. We decided to test a material called Demron to hold the
gaseous mixture that will act as a passive shield. Demron is a material that consists of a
metal suspended on polyethylene fabric. Our experiments consisted of capturing a
radiation absorption spectrum for sheets of Demron at various thicknesses. We used a
single channel analyzer and a scintillation tube to capture the radiation at varying
energies that passed through the Demron. The sources used included Cobalt and Cesium.
We made a more detailed analysis of the absorption at the energies associated with the
photo peaks and X-ray peaks of each radiation source by narrowing the range of measured
energies around each peak. Through the results obtained we were able to discern how
effective the Demron material is at stopping radiation. The goal of the MISSFIT project
is to advance the space exploration frontier by providing essential radiation shielding for
astronauts.
*Funding for this project was acquired through a grant from the Iowa Space Grant Consortium.
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700