Radiation Protection Mitigation Strategies for Space Exploration

There is a multitude of health risks associated with space exploration ranging from microgravity, to ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation (NIR) health effects, to communication and navigation challenges. Besides the risks posed by environmental space radiation sources (e.g., sunlight, galactic cosmic rays, solar particle events), there is a risk associated with manufactured ionizing radiation sources (e.g., radioactive sources) and NIR sources (e.g., lasers, LEDs, lamps, antennas). Considering the technology advancements over the last decades, stronger radio antennas, higher power lasers and other high-intensity incoherent light sources are now available to use for routine space operations (e.g., communications, vehicle docking, etc.). This presentation will provide an overview of the radiation protection, exposure limits and safety measures for crew health, as applied to human spaceflight. In addition, parallels between different ionizing radiation and NIR risk mitigation strategies will be discussed.