Durante, M.

La Tessa, C.

Lobascio, C.

Piersanti, L.

Rovituso, M.

Schuy, C.

Tracino, E.

GSI Repository

Status of the ROSSINI project at GSI∗C. Schuy†1,2, C. La Tessa1, M. Rovituso1,2, L. Piersanti1,3, E. Tracino4, C. Lobascio4, and M.Durante1,21GSI, Darmstadt, Germany; 2TU Darmstadt, Germany; 3University of Rome ”La Sapienza”, Italy; 4Thales AleniaSpace, ItalyOverviewSince the end of the Apollo missions, human spaceflightconcentrated on missions in Low Earth Orbit thus reduc-ing one of the major risk for man in space - radiation. Dueto Earth’s magnetic field, astronauts are largely protectedfrom cosmic radiation originating from the sun or outsideour galaxy. This situation will change significantly whenthe final destination is beyond this protection and deeperinto the solar system. The feasibility of missions into deepspace is strongly connected to the capability of protectingastronauts from the harsh radiation environment in inter-planetary space [1]. Passive shielding, a well known tech-nique in radiation protection, shows great promises in re-ducing the health risk induced by the space radiation envi-ronment.The ROSSINI projectThe ROSSINI(RadiatiOn Shielding by ISRU and/or IN-novative MaterIals for EVA, Vehicle and Habitat) project isfunded by ESA and started in 2012. The goal of the experi-ment is to select innovative shielding materials and providerecommendations and guidelines for space radioprotectionin different mission scenarios. These include the protec-tion of spaceships, which require light and durable shield-ing materials, as well as the shielding of possible perma-nent bases on Mars or Moon, where available material likeregolith can offer the needed protection.The project is a common effort of Thales Alenia Space,GSI, SpaceIT and ESA.ExperimentsThe shielding effectivness of all candidate materials isassessed through dose reduction curves and/or Bragg-Peakmeasurments similar to the experimental setup in [2].For the most promising materials a characterization of themixed radiation field produced by heavy ions impingingon the targets is perfomed. Particle identification isachieved with a BaF2 telescope and kinetic energy withthe time-of-flight technique [3].First experiments were performed in June 2012 atNSRL/Brookehaven National Laboratory (USA), andin August and October 2012 at Cave A/GSI using highenergy heavy ion beams.∗Work supported by ESA(RF: SGI-TASI-PRO-0226)† Work supported by HGSHireStatus and outlookExperimental data taken during the measurment cam-paign in 2012 at GSI is currently being analysed [Fig 1].Based on the gained experience, optimizations of the de-tectors and electronics are currently in progress, as well aschanges of the experimental site Cave A. Further experi-ments are expected to be performed at the end of 2013.Figure 1: Preliminary relative proton and neutron pro-duction rate for 1 GeV/u Ti beam impinging on differentshielding materials of 5 g/cm2 thickness. All results arescaled to Polyethelene, which is a widely used radiationshielding material.AcknowledgmentAdam Rusek and Michael Sivertz of the Brookhaven Na-tional Laboratory, Stephen Bennington and Zeynep Kur-ban of Cella Energy, Enrico Dini of Dinitech and MarkusKayser for the test of Solar Sinter machine.References[1] M. Durante and F. Cucinotta, “Heavy ion carcinogenesis andhuman space exploration”, Nature Reviews Cancer 8 (June2008), 465-472[2] D. Schardt et. al, “Precision Bragg-Curve Measurements forLight-Ion Beams in Water”, GSI Scientific report, 2007[3] E. Haettner,H. Iwase and D. Schardt, “Experimental frag-mentation studies with 12C therapy beams ”, Radiat ProtDosimetry (December 2006) 122 (1-4): 485-487HEALTH-68 GSI SCIENTIFIC REPORT 2012492

Status of the ROSSINI project at GSI

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Status of the ROSSINI project at GSI

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