NASA NTRS2015
The Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) was the first flight of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). The flight was launched on December 5, 2014, by a Delta IV Heavy rocket and lasted 4.5 hours. The EFT-1 trajectory involved one low altitude orbit and one high altitude orbit with an apogee of almost 6000 km. As a result of this particular flight profile, the Orion MPCV passed through intense regions of trapped protons and electron belts. In support of the radiation measurements aboard the EFT-1, the Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) provided a Battery-operated Independent Radiation Detector (BIRD) based on Timepix radiation monitoring technology similar to that employed by the ISS Radiation Environmental Monitors (REM). In addition, SRAG provided a suite of optically and thermally stimulated luminescence detectors, with 2 Radiation Area Monitor (RAM) units collocated with the BIRD instrument for comparison purposes, and 6 RAM units distributed at different shielding configurations within the Orion MPCV. A summary of the EFT-1 Radiation Area Monitors (RAM) mission dose results obtained from measurements performed in the Space Radiation Dosimetry Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center will be presented. Each RAM included LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100), (6)LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-600), (7)LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-700), Al2O3:C (Luxel trademark), and CaF2:Tm (TLD-300). The RAM mission dose values will be compared with the BIRD instrument total mission dose. In addition, a similar comparison will be shown for the ISS environment by comparing the ISS RAM data with data from the six Timepix-based REM units deployed on ISS as part of the NASA REM Technology Demonstration.