| Session Details | |
| Section | PS - Planetary Sciences |
| Session Title | Comparative Space and Surface Radiation Environments Planetology |
| Main Convener | Dr. Giovanni de Angelis (SERCO S.p.A., Italy) |
| Co-convener(s) | Dr. Francis A. Cucinotta (NASA, United States) Dr. Tsvetan P. Dachev (STIL/BAS, Bulgaria) Dr. Myung-Hee Kim (Universities Space Research Association, United States) Prof. Premkumar B. Saganti (Prairie View AM University, United States) Dr. Jordanka Semkova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria) |
| Session Description | Manned space activities are currently limited to the near-Earth environment. They are now set to go beyond LEO, coming back first to the Moon, on the way to Mars. Such long journeys outside the protective umbrella of the geomagnetic field will require much higher levels of protection from the radiation, during both cruise and surface phase, for both astronauts and equipment. Radiation protection is now one of the two highest concerns and priorities for NASA's future space exploration plans, as well as for the major worldwide spacefaring agencies. Therefore a detailed knowledge of the physical environments, both space and target objects, in which beyond-LEO missions will be carried out is needed in order to achieve this goal. Data obtained with lunar and planetary spaceborne instrumentation will be available, and can be presented, as well as compared with results from theoretical studies. In this session, mostly devoted to the Moon and Mars, the planetary environments to be used for radiation analysis will be discussed, with as main topics: (a) description of planetary body environments (atmosphere boundary layer, surface, subsurface) to be used in radiation analysis; (b) presentation of results of measurements from radiation-related instruments part of the payloads of planetary missions, with comparisons between radiation models and measurements, and constraints set by the radiation measurements on the environmental models; (c) instrumentation flown in current and future space missions in order to validate models and increase radiation environments understanding; (d) presentation of new and updated techniques and codes for theoretical computations of radiation fluxes and doses and their experimental validation; (e) applications of planetary radiation environmental models to the evalution of risks for unmanned annd manned missions; (f) discussion of standards and guidelines leading toward an ISO standardization process for planetary radiation environments. The AOGS 2011 assembly will provide the community with a great chance to review the subject as well as to present the most recent experimental and theoretical results and progress on the characterization of planetary radiation environments. |