‘Star Trek’ force field could help protect real astronauts in space

by William Atkins

Saturday, 08 November 2008

Page 1 of 3 ! British, Portuguese, and Swedish physicists have come up with a strong magnetic shield that may be able to protect astronauts from dangerous space radiation as they make extended missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Better get Scotty to engineer the project! Lead author of the study, Ruth Bamford, a plasma physicist in the United Kingdom, stated that their preliminary device is “like Star Trek coming to life.” [National Geographic: “'Star Trek' Shield May Protect Astronauts”] The Bamford team used magnets to test a way to divert radiation safely away from the bodies of astronauts as they travel in outer space. Their paper “The interaction of a flowing plasma with a dipole magnetic field: measurements and modelling of a diamagnetic cavity relevant to spacecraft protection” was published in the December 2008 issue of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, a publication of the Institute of Physics, and is currently available (as of Tuesday, November 4, 2008, on its website). Its authors, from the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Sweden, are Ruth Bamford, K.J. Gibson, A.J. Thornton, J. Bradfor, R. Bingham, L. Gargate, L.O. Silva, R.A. Fonseca, M. Hapgood, C. Norberg, T. Todd, and R. Stamper. They state in the abstract to their paper, “Here we describe a new experiment to test the shielding concept of a dipole-like magnetic field and plasma, surrounding a spacecraft forming a 'mini magnetosphere'.” They modeled their invention on the natural way that the Earth’s magnetic field (its magnetosphere) protects living things on the planet from radiation coming from space, especially from solar radiation coming from the Sun and cosmic rays coming from all parts of outer space. Bamford stated, "Life might not have been possible on Earth without a magnetic field as this first line of defense.” [National Geographic] Page two continues to tell why Martian visitors need radiation protection much more than earlier space travelers to the Moon. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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