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Kim MHY, Thibeault SA, Wilson JW, Simonsen LC, Heilbronn L, Chang K, Kiefer RL, Weakley JA, Maahs HG. Development and Testing of in situ Materials for Human Exploration of Mars. HIGH PERFORM POLYM 2016. [DOI: 10.1088/0954-0083/12/1/302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Interplanetary space radiation poses a serious health hazard in long-term manned space missions. Natural Martian surface materials are evaluated for their potential use as radiation shields for manned Mars missions. The modified radiation fluences behind various kinds of Martian rocks and regolith are determined by solving the Boltzmann equation using NASA Langley’s HZETRN code along with the 1977 Solar Minimum galactic cosmic ray environmental model. To make structural shielding composite materials from constituents of the Martian atmosphere and from Martian regolith for Martian surface habitats, schemes for synthesizing polyimide from the Martian atmosphere and for processing Martian regolith/polyimide composites are proposed. Theoretical predictions of the shielding properties of these composites are computed to assess their shielding effectiveness. Adding high-performance polymer binders to Martian regolith to enhance the structural properties also enhances the shielding properties of these composites because of the added hydrogenous constituents. Laboratory testing of regolith simulant/polyimide composites is planned in order to validate this prediction and also to measure various structural properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- M-H Y Kim
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187, USA
| | | | | | - L C Simonsen
- NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
| | - L Heilbronn
- Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - K Chang
- Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA 23606, USA
| | | | - J A Weakley
- College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187, USA
| | - H G Maahs
- NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23681, USA
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