Space Shield Could Protect Astronauts

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.

"The first thing we are approaching is proof of principle," said Bamford, referring to the need to prove that a spaceship-sized magnetosphere is feasible and would block radiation. Eventually experiments will have to move out of the laboratory and into space, of course, which is where the work really gets expensive.

"There are several stages in between," she cautioned.

Other researchers agree that magnetic fields are a logical approach to protecting astronauts outside Earth's magnetosphere.

"It's absolutely a viable choice," said the University of Washington's Robert Winglee, who has beem promoting the idea for a long time.

Winglee pointed out that the shields would have other uses as well. They could protect astronauts on the surface of the Moon or Mars, where only spotty, remnant magnetic fields exist, he said.

There is also the distinct possibility that the collision of radiation with a magnetic shield could be used as a super-efficient way to accelerate a spacecraft on very long voyages, said Winglee, somewhat like a sail on a ship.

"I'm glad to see others are working on it," Winglee told Discovery News.