AW: AW: [ RadSafe ] [RadSafe]Mission to Mars---Fission Propulsion

[Rainer.Facius at dlr.de]

Bernard, 
 
exactly this reduction of the solid angle is of cause part of previous as well of planned designs, though I doubt that it will be achieved by distances in the order of miles

Regards, Rainer
 
________________________________

Von: Bernard L. Cohen [mailto:blc+ at pitt.edu]
Gesendet: Mi 01.10.2008 16:25
An: Facius, Rainer
Cc: idias at interchange.ubc.ca; radsafe at radlab.nl
Betreff: Re: AW: [ RadSafe ] [RadSafe]Mission to Mars---Fission Propulsion



Rainer.Facius at dlr.de wrote:
> Considering a mass shielding between the reactor and the astronaut compartment thick enough to shield sufficiently against neutrons and gammas emitted by the fuel, my guess was that only a very minor fraction of the 'soft' Bremsstrahlung photons from beta decays of the fission products would reach the skin.
>  
One point missing from this extensive discussion is that the reactor
could be placed a large distance away from the people-- maybe even a
mile or more away (?) -- with a rigid rod connecting them. This would
greatly reduce radiation exposures and shielding requirements.

--
Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept., University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245  Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc at pitt.edu  web site: http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc