Effects of Radiobiological Uncertainty on Vehicle and Habitat Shield Design for Missions to the Moon and Mars
نویسندگان
چکیده
Some consequences of uncertainties in radiobiological risk due to galactic cosmic ray (GCR) exposure are analyzed for their e ect on engineering designs for the rst lunar outpost and a mission to explore Mars. This report presents the plausible e ect of biological uncertainties , the design changes necessary to reduce the uncertainties to acceptable levels for a safe mission, and an evaluation of the mission redesign cost. Estimates of the amount of shield mass required to compensate for radiobiological uncertainty are given for a simpli ed vehicle and habitat. The additional amount of shield mass required to provide a safety factor for uncertainty compensation is calculated from the expected response to GCR exposure. The amount of shield mass greatly increases in the estimated range of biological uncertainty, thus escalating the estimated cost of the mission. The estimates are used as a quantitative example for the cost e ectiveness of research in radiation biophysics and radiation physics.
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