April 18, 2007 — A team of British space scientists is teaming up with fusion researchers to develop Star Trek-like deflector shields. The shields might someday envelop manned interplanetary spaceships and protect the astronauts inside from deadly radiation storms.
"Unless you solve this (radiation) problem, you're going to have a bunch of dead astronauts," said shield researcher Ruth Bamford of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, England.
The idea of using a magnetic field to deflect the charged particles spewed by solar flares and interstellar space was borrowed from the Earth itself, which deflects the worst solar radiation and particle storms with its naturally generated magnetic field, called the magnetosphere.
"Nature has put this solution forward," said Bamford. "It has a certain elegance that's appealing."
Part of that elegance is how light and inexpensive magnetic shields would be compared to massive metal shielding. Metal shields would cost a lot to launch into space, and would require more fuel to be moved around once there.
A magnetic shield has the additional benefit that it won't become radioactive after years of being bombarded by radiation — something that happens to metal shields, Bamford explained.
Joining forces with fusion scientists could be the key to advancing the new technology, says Bamford, because the fusion people are expert at creating and controlling magnetic fields inside a reactor.
Bamford gave a presentation on the new collaboration on April 18 at the Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting in Preston, England.
