Radiation-protective properties of polymer composite material in the ISS cabin according to thermoluminescent and solid-state track detectors

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Abstract

The paper presents measurement data obtained in the space experiment “Shielding Composite” by thermoluminescent and solid-state track detectors. A cylindrical container made of a composite shielding material based on fluoroplastic (1 cm thick, density 4.05 g/cm3) was installed in the left cabin of the International Space Station (ISS) Service Module. The measurement data were obtained for the period from February 21 to September 19, 2022, which falls at the growth phase of the solar activity cycle. The shielding effect of the composite material was determined as the ratio of doses received outside and inside the container, and according to measured data, it was 1.33 ± 0.08 for the absorbed dose and 1.29 ± 0.07 for the dose equivalent. This effect is mainly due to a decrease in the contribution to the dose from the Earth's radiation belts, which corresponds to the results of calculations carried out by the ray tracing method for the detector locations.

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About the authors

R. V. Tolochek

Institute of biomedical problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: shurshakov@imbp.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

V. I. Pavlenko

Belgorod State Technological University Named after V.G. Shoukhov

Email: shurshakov@imbp.ru
Russian Federation, Belgorod

N. I. Cherkashina

Belgorod State Technological University Named after V.G. Shoukhov

Email: shurshakov@imbp.ru
Russian Federation, Belgorod

O. A. Ivanova

Institute of biomedical problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: shurshakov@imbp.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

D. A. Kartashov

Institute of biomedical problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: shurshakov@imbp.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

I. S. Kartsev

Institute of biomedical problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: shurshakov@imbp.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

V. A. Shurshakov

Institute of biomedical problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: shurshakov@imbp.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Stacks with assemblies of passive detectors and their location on the wall of the cabin

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3. Fig. 2. Geometric model of the protection of passive detector assemblies: (a) – container inside the module; (b) – container against the background of the porthole; (c) – display of the ray tracing result for the container inside the module

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4. Fig. 3. Left: tracks of cosmic charged particles of different origins (primary and secondary); right: a typical example of the result of track pattern recognition using the SEIKO® PitFit v. 2.0 program with the indication of the ordinal numbers of the tracks

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5. Fig. 4. LET spectra of cosmic charged particles measured using TTD inside (L-01 internal) and outside (L-01 external) the protective container after exposure on board the ISS RS

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6. Fig. 5. Shielding functions for the locations of passive detector assemblies on the cabin wall outside (solid line) and inside (dashed line) the container

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