25-10-2012, 11:36 AM
Moon Eyed as Good Testbed for Radiation Protection Systems
ABSTRACT
A team of researchers is looking to the Moon to develop the tools future astronauts may need to ward off potentially
life-threatening levels of space radiation. Currently midway through their NASA funded study, the researchers are working
to determine whether a set of electrically charged shield spheres atop 40-meter masts could deflect radiation from a populated
Moon base. If it proves possible, such a radiation-proof screen, called an electrostatic shield - could protect astronauts from
the long-lasting, and possibly fatal, radiation hazards of spaceflight beyond the Earth’s magnetic field.