Engineering topics

Konradi, Andrei

Publications and source records attributed to Konradi, Andrei.

6 records

NASA NTRS1993

Spaceflight Radiation Health program at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

The Johnson Space Center leads the research and development activities that address the health effects of space radiation exposure to astronaut crews. Increased knowledge of the composition of the environment and of the biological effects of space radiation is required to assess health risks to astronaut crews. The activities at the Johnson Space Center range from quantification of astronaut exposures to fundamental research into the biological effects resulting from exposure to high energy particle radiation. The Spaceflight Radiation Health Program seeks to balance the requirements for operational flexibility with the requirement to minimize crew radiation exposures. The components of the space radiation environment are characterized. Current and future radiation monitoring instrumentation is described. Radiation health risk activities are described for current Shuttle operations and for research development program activities to shape future analysis of health risk.

Johnson, A. Steve↗

NASA NTRS1992

Active dosimetric measurements on Shuttle flights

A tissue-equivalent proportional counter spectrometer capable of measuring the absorbed dose and dose distribution as a function of LET and time, for all penetrating radiation in space, is described. This instrument weighs about 0.7 kg and was flown on the STS-31 (28.5 deg x 620 km) flight of the Space Shuttle, 24-29 April 1990. The measured total dose is in excellent agreement with the calculations based on the AP8MAX model of the trapped radiation belt protons. The observed LET frequency distribution is also in excellent agreement with calculations based on this model. Active instruments can provide more detailed dosimetry for crew risk assessment than the thermoluminescent detectors or a plastic track detector system.

Badhwar, Gautam D.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Conversion of omnidirectional proton fluxes into a pitch angle distribution

The long-term radiation exposures anticipated for astronauts aboard oriented space stations entail consideration of spacecraft mass distribution and the direction of high-energy proton flux. A scheme has been developed for deriving pitch-angle distributions of energetic protons from the omnidirectional fluxes contained in the AP-8 MIN magnetospheric radiation model. A functional form is also presented for expressing the proton pitch-angle distributions at a given energy and L coordinate, as a function of only three parameters.

Badhwar, Gautam D.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Effect of the orbital debris environment on the high-energy Van Allen proton belt

The lifetimes of high-energy (greater than 55 MeV) protons in the Van Allen radiation belt are calculated, assuming that in time the protons will collide with and be absorbed by particulate orbiting material. The calculations are based on the NASA/DoD Civil Needs Database for orbital debris (Gaines, 1966) and moderate assumptions of future space traffic. It is found that the lifetimes of high-energy protons below 1500 km will decrease, leading to a noticeable redution in their fluxes.

Konradi, Andrei↗

NASA NTRS1987

Radiation environment models and the atmospheric cutoff

The limitations of radiation environment models are examined by applying the model to the South Atlantic anomaly (SAA). The local magnetic-field-intensity (in gauss) and McIlwain (1961) drift-shell-parameter contours in the SAA are analyzed. It is noted that it is necessary to decouple the atmospheric absorption effects from the trapped radiation models in order to obtain accurate radiation dose predictions. Two methods for obtaining more accurate results are proposed.

Konradi, Andrei↗

NASA NTRS1986

Ground testing in a simulated auroral environment

Shuttle polar orbit missions are being planned in which astronaut extravehicular activities (EVA) will eventually include external operations or repair and refurbishment of satellites. Recent satellite data and model calculations show that significant spacecraft charging and differential charging occurs in that environment and could endanger equipment and personnel involved in the EVA. These spacecraft charging events take place in response to an intense flux of high energy electrons accompanied by a large drop in the ambient plasma density. The extent of which the auroral environment can be simulated in a large vacuum chamber are determined so that conditions which lead to significant charging and discharging may be observed and controlled. A large chamber would be required in order to simulate the effects of an aurora-like, large cross-section, energetic electron precipitation on a target system the size of an astronaut with a life support system. The precipitating electrons can be simulated with an array of multipactor sources and the background ionization produced by the beam can be limited to the range of the auroral density if the chamber pressure is not significantly above 1 x .000001 Torr. Some small chamber work has shown that the plasma in the beam will diffuse radially at a rate determined by the Bohm diffusion coefficient.

Mcintyre, Bernard↗