Active dosimetry on recent space flights
R. Beaujean, J. Kopp, G. Reitz
Universität Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany and
DLR Köln, 51140 Köln, Germany
Abstract from Radiation Protection Dosimetry,
Vol. 85, No. 1-4, p. 223-226 (1999)
The radiation exposure inside the spacecraft in low-earth orbit was
investigated with a telescope based on two silicon planar detectors during
three NASA shuttle-to-MIR missions (inclination 51.6°,
altitude about 380 km).
Count and dose rate profiles were measured, as well as separate
linear energy transfer (LET) spectra, for the galactic cosmic rays (GCR)
and the trapped radiation encountered in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA).
Effective quality factors are deduced from the converted LET spectra (in
water) in the range 0.1-120 keV/µm according to ICRP60.
Measured mission averaged dose rates in silicon are in the range
98-108 µGy/d and 137-178 µGy/d for the GCR and SAA
contributions respectively.
The deduced effective quality factors are 2.95-3.29 (GCR) and 1.18-1.25 (SAA),
resulting in mission averaged dose equivalent rates of 631-716 µSv/d
for the comparable three missions.
Contact: R. Beaujean
