title: Issues in space radiation protection: galactic cosmic rays.
abstract: When shielding from cosmic heavy ions, one is faced with limited knowledge about the physical properties and biological responses of these radiations. Herein, the current status of space shielding technology and its impact on radiation health is discussed in terms of conventional protection practice and a test biological response model. The impact of biological response on optimum materials selection for cosmic ray shielding is presented in terms of the transmission characteristics of the shield material. Although liquid hydrogen is an optimum shield material, evaluation of the effectiveness of polymeric structural materials must await improvement in our knowledge of both the biological response and the nuclear processes.
authors.affiliation: NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA 23681-0001.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schimmerling
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Badavi
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Thibeault
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Cucinotta
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Shinn
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kiefer
mesh_terms: D018480:Astronauts; D003359:Cosmic Radiation; D006801:Humans; D018499:Linear Energy Transfer; D011835:Radiation Protection; D012306:Risk