Awesome research!
Looks like low-earth orbit mostly, for manned missions.
Cosmic rays recently determined to be TWICE as damaging as previously thought. Mars is out.
https://phys.org/news/2017-06-collateral-cosmic-rays-cancer-mars.html
Scientists have solved a 60-year mystery by figuring out the source of harmful and highly energetic electrons whizzing around in Earth’s inner radiation belt. Space is more than the final frontier. It is treacherous beyond belief. Earth is circled by swarms of charged particles, starting from 500km out to a distance of 58, …
"on Mars they have plenty of mass to make shielding from."
The problem isn't so much once you get there, as the designing a craft that can make a year-long journey safely.
Radiation shielding is heavy (pretty much by definition), and needing more of it makes it exponentially more expensive to lift a craft into space (since you need extra fuel to lift the heavier shielding, and extra fuel on top of that to move the extra fuel).
Neutral atoms? Where do these 'neutral' atoms come from? The atom, as a whole is neutral, because the orbiting electrons cancel out the charge on the nucleus The nucleus is always positively charged. So, the bit with the neutrons, is never neutral. A free neutron, and where do these come from, has a half life of only minutes, so there are none of those about. The theory may well be correct, but the article is not.
Yes but only if your no more than about 25 light minutes away from it.
Free neutrons have an average life of about 14-15 minutes before they decay into a proton, electron and an electron anti-neutrino (occasionally a gamma photon is produced as well). Thus we on earth will never see free neutrons in cosmic rays but may see a few in solar radiation (low energy as they are not accelerated by magnet or electrical fields).
This is the reason why there are no clouds of neutrons in space, but loads of hydrogen in both neutral and ionised states.
"The gang's work shows that the particles are formed by deadly cosmic rays fired from supernova explosions."
I am getting tired of journalists' overuse of the word deadly, cosmic rays are certainly dangerous if you wander into the path of enough of them, but then so are buses, cricket balls and buffalo. They can all be deadly in certain circumstances but generally are not.
which storyline do you prefer for said joyride? the recent one from newish show The Orville or the classic Trek story which seemingly inspired it, For The World Is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky? Hopefully NOT the one where we all eventually become Cybermen
"which storyline do you prefer for said joyride? the recent one from newish show The Orville or the classic Trek story which seemingly inspired it, For The World Is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky?"
Or, looking from an external perspective, Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke.
"The team used a small shoe-box sized particle telescope – which was built by undergraduate and graduate students at the university and blasted into orbit in 2014 as a CubeSat mission – to measure the flux of energetic solar protons and electrons from the radiation belt over two years."
So, reading between the lines, they gave the vital bit to a couple of undergrads, who cobbled it all together between hangovers. A bit of kit the size of a shoebox. With no time design and make a lightweight case for the bally thing.
"Doh - I know, I've got an old shoebox under the bed in my room that I keep my sneakers in - Y'know, I think it may just fit. I was thinking of chucking it out - the neighbours in the flat 2 floors down are beginning to complain ... but you know the old saying "In space no one can hear you gag" ... I'll bring it in tomorrow"
"Noooo, Luv ... just take the kit home with you and try it there ... If it fits, tape the lid on tight and wrap the whole kaboodle tightly with several layers of clingfilm to make it airtight. Bring it in tomorrow and we present it quick. All agreed?
"Ai, ai Captain."
It's well known in scientific circles that the pong from a young girl's sneakers can make a sewer smell foul. Exploding supernovae? I fart - er, I mean, I point a girl's sneakers in their general direction. El Reg had a piece on this very subject but a few months ago.
>>He'll have to do - we need a nose 'n ferrit icon.