Gateway Radiation Evaluation for Human Exploration of the Moon and Beyond (GaRaMoon)

Abstract

The Moon will be the next stepping stone for human exploration and prepare for longer deep space exploration missions (e.g. Mars). One limitation for human exploration is the space radiation environment and the ensuing exposure of astronauts. While on-board the ISS, humans are still partly protected by the Earth’s magnetic field from galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and energetic solar particle event (SPE) contributions, which changes on leaving low Earth orbit (LEO). In free space, in the Gateway around the Moon or on the lunar surface, humans will be exposed to the full GCR environment and to a certain extent, depending on the relevant local shielding, to higher contributions from SPEs. To enable a detailed knowledge of the radiation environment for lunar missions it is essential to combine measurements and numerical simulations and thereby understand the constituents of the radiation environment. The GaRaMoon project will provide an analysis of the shielding and orbit dependent variation of the exposure based on available radiation measurements on the gateway provided by the instrument suite from the European Radiation Sensors Array (ERSA) along with the IDA (Internal Dosimeter Array) , including radiation quality. Numerical models will be applied to estimate the corresponding quantities at the location of the detectors and to provide additional information, such as energy spectra of different particles types and organ doses calculated in reference phantoms. In addition, a comparison of available data measured at other locations, for instance on the ISS, at Mars and various free space missions, will enhance the picture needed for safe human travels beyond LEO.