More "Star-Trek technology" is becoming a reality.

BBC NEWS
Magnetic shield for spacefarers

Lab tests show how to produce a protective 'hole' in the plasma

Future astronauts could benefit from a magnetic "umbrella" that deflects harmful space radiation around their crew capsule, scientists say.

The super-fast charged particles that stream away from the Sun pose a significant threat to any long-duration mission, such as to the Moon or Mars.

But the research team says a spaceship equipped with a magnetic field generator could protect its occupants.

Lab tests are reported in the journal Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.

The approach mimics the protective field that envelops the Earth, known as the magnetosphere.

Astronauts' risk

Our star is a constant source of charged particles, and storms that arise on the Sun's surface result in huge numbers of these particles spilling into space.

As well as this plasma, or "solar wind", high velocity particles known as cosmic rays also flood through our galaxy.

The Earth's magnetosphere deflects many of these particles that rain down on the planet, and our atmosphere absorbs most of the rest.
The first time we switched it on, it worked
Ruth Bamford

International space agencies acknowledge that astronauts face a significant risk of ill health and even death if they experience major exposure to this harsh environment.

And even the spacecraft themselves are not immune to the effects. A solar flare crippled the electronics on Japan's mission to Mars, Nozomi, in 2002, for example.

But researchers from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), the Universities of York and Strathclyde, and IST Lisbon have shown how it might be possible to create a portable mini-magnetosphere for spaceships.

People scale

In its experimental set-up, the team simulated the solar wind in the laboratory and used magnetic fields to isolate an area inside the plasma, deflecting particles around the "hole".

It was not initially clear the idea would work, said Ruth Bamford, who led the research.

"There was a belief that you couldn't make a little hole in the solar wind small enough to do this at all," Dr Bamford, from RAL, told BBC News.

"It was believed that you had to have something very large, approaching planetary scale, to work in this way."

The team has had to take into account the physics of plasmas at the comparatively tiny human scale. To create its metre-sized trial, the team used a plasma jet and a simple $20 magnet.

"The first time we switched it on, it worked," said Dr Bamford.

What is more, the trial field seems to adjust itself automatically. "It does have the capacity to be somewhat self-regulating, just like the Earth's magnetosphere is," Dr Bamford explained.

"When it gets a strong push from the solar wind, the bubble gets smaller. The video shows us increasing the pressure of the solar wind, and the shield gets smaller but brighter."

Power issues

Many more experiments are needed, Dr Bamford admits, to understand how best to harness the effect; and a practical implementation is probably 15 to 20 years away.

To protect a spaceship and its crew, she said, the craft itself might carry the magnetic field generator. Alternatively, it was possible to envisage a constellation of accompanying ships dedicated to the purpose of providing the umbrella where it was needed most.

The approach will probably also work with a field that is not on constantly, but cycles on and off - conserving the power that is precious on long-term missions. The details of how to cycle the field and control its shape must be hammered out, however.

"There're a lot of things to work out, like control, reliability, weight to launch, and so on," said Dr Bamford.

"I don't think it'll come down to as little as sticking fridge magnets on the outside of the spacecraft."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/7706844.stm

Published: 2008/11/03 23:57:22 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

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. . . Merci Andy - Great Post Sir!

ps - how's the Microscopic Studies comin' along?

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BOINC Wiki . . .

Science Status Page . . .

Interesting, although technically the proper Trek terminology would be "screens" (as mentioned in the original pilot) that shield against small particles and energies but not necessarily against objects of more mass.

Still, it isn't fascinating (!) to see how art imitates life, but not quite so surprising as Roddenberry et. al. routinely consulted with scientists whenever time (and budget) allowed.

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Has anyone thought of what the probability of been hit by objects with high iron content would be ?

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We choose to go to the moon and to do other things, we choose to go to the moon not because its easy but because its hard. kennedy

Has anyone thought of what the probability of been hit by objects with high iron content would be ?

What kind of objects asteroids or tin trays?

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Old enough to know better(but)still young enough not to care

I dont know how to call them but object about 1 to 20kg.

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We choose to go to the moon and to do other things, we choose to go to the moon not because its easy but because its hard. kennedy

Has anyone thought of what the probability of been hit by objects with high iron content would be ?

Very high if you stand in the middle of a city road during rush hour!

:-p

Keep searchin',
Martin

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Has anyone thought of what the probability of been hit by objects with high iron content would be ?

It would be about the same odds as being hit an object with low iron content. Magnetism works at relatively short ranges and the distance between objects in space tends to be rather large.

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Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.

Albert Einstein

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 March 2005, 16:20 CST

NASA -- When lightning makes your favorite AM radio station crackle and pop, it is also cleaning up a radiation hazard overhead.

Lightning in clouds only a few miles above the ground clears a safe zone in the radiation belts thousands of miles above the Earth, according to new NASA research. The unexpected new result resolves a forty-year-old debate as to how the safe zone is formed and is the second big lightning result in the last month.

The safe zone, called the "Van Allen Belt slot," is a potential haven offering reduced radiation dosages for satellites that require Middle Earth Orbits (MEOs). Understanding this phenomenon may lead to ways to reduce the hazards of operating in these zones, which potentially could be a dramatic benefit to the Vision for Space Exploration in the future.

Can magnetic shield alone protect or shall we have to create mini lightening strikes on long jouneys?.

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We choose to go to the moon and to do other things, we choose to go to the moon not because its easy but because its hard. kennedy

Can magnetic shield alone protect or shall we have to create mini lightening strikes on long jouneys?.

I suppose that depends on what aspect of the lightening strike is causing the protective zone... my money's on the electromagnetics rather than the transfer of electrical potential fr point A to point B. If so, then we only need to figure out how to reproduce that aspect, how to "raise shields" as it were.

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