Modeling the Radiation Environment of Energetic Particles at Mars Orbit and a First Validation against TGO Measurements
Sending astronauts to Mars will be a milestone of future deep space exploration activities. However, energetic particle radiation in deep space and in the Mars environment is a major risk to the health of future human explorers. The nominal Martian surface radiation field contains primary Galactic C...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acce3c |
| _version_ | 1797699922132205568 |
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| author | Weihao Liu Jingnan Guo Jian Zhang Jordanka Semkova |
| author_facet | Weihao Liu Jingnan Guo Jian Zhang Jordanka Semkova |
| author_sort | Weihao Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sending astronauts to Mars will be a milestone of future deep space exploration activities. However, energetic particle radiation in deep space and in the Mars environment is a major risk to the health of future human explorers. The nominal Martian surface radiation field contains primary Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) particles and secondary particles generated in the Martian atmosphere and the regolith. Some of these secondary particles may propagate upward and even be detected at the orbit of Mars contributing to the orbit radiation. Studying the Mars orbit radiation environment is critical for planning future Mars orbital missions. Therefore, we calculate the Martian orbit radiation dose rate considering the primary GCR spectra provided by the Badhwar-O’Neill 2014 model and the secondary particles modeled by the state-of-the-art Atmospheric Radiation Interaction Simulator. Specifically, we calculate the integral dose rate of each particle type and its dependence on orbit height, surface pressure, and solar modulation intensity. Our analysis shows that modulation intensity is the most dominating factor and that different surface pressures make less than a 1% impact. We also derive the sensitive energy range of detected particles contributing to the dose rate and further validate our prediction against the measured data by Liulin-MO on TGO at a circular orbit around Mars. This may conduce to predicting the radiation risks in Mars orbit and providing constructive reference parameters for the crewed space industry. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:14:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5171d9595f864b2b96396f717975f232 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T04:14:55Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-5171d9595f864b2b96396f717975f2322023-09-03T10:39:41ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572023-01-0194927710.3847/1538-4357/acce3cModeling the Radiation Environment of Energetic Particles at Mars Orbit and a First Validation against TGO MeasurementsWeihao Liu0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2873-5688Jingnan Guo1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8707-076XJian Zhang2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5950-2169Jordanka Semkova3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2366-2176Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; jnguo@ustc.edu.cn; Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USADeep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; jnguo@ustc.edu.cn; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of ChinaDeep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; jnguo@ustc.edu.cnSpace Research and Technology Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Science , Sofia 1113, BulgariaSending astronauts to Mars will be a milestone of future deep space exploration activities. However, energetic particle radiation in deep space and in the Mars environment is a major risk to the health of future human explorers. The nominal Martian surface radiation field contains primary Galactic Cosmic Ray (GCR) particles and secondary particles generated in the Martian atmosphere and the regolith. Some of these secondary particles may propagate upward and even be detected at the orbit of Mars contributing to the orbit radiation. Studying the Mars orbit radiation environment is critical for planning future Mars orbital missions. Therefore, we calculate the Martian orbit radiation dose rate considering the primary GCR spectra provided by the Badhwar-O’Neill 2014 model and the secondary particles modeled by the state-of-the-art Atmospheric Radiation Interaction Simulator. Specifically, we calculate the integral dose rate of each particle type and its dependence on orbit height, surface pressure, and solar modulation intensity. Our analysis shows that modulation intensity is the most dominating factor and that different surface pressures make less than a 1% impact. We also derive the sensitive energy range of detected particles contributing to the dose rate and further validate our prediction against the measured data by Liulin-MO on TGO at a circular orbit around Mars. This may conduce to predicting the radiation risks in Mars orbit and providing constructive reference parameters for the crewed space industry.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acce3cMarsSpace researchHigh-energy cosmic radiation |
| spellingShingle | Weihao Liu Jingnan Guo Jian Zhang Jordanka Semkova Modeling the Radiation Environment of Energetic Particles at Mars Orbit and a First Validation against TGO Measurements The Astrophysical Journal Mars Space research High-energy cosmic radiation |
| title | Modeling the Radiation Environment of Energetic Particles at Mars Orbit and a First Validation against TGO Measurements |
| title_full | Modeling the Radiation Environment of Energetic Particles at Mars Orbit and a First Validation against TGO Measurements |
| title_fullStr | Modeling the Radiation Environment of Energetic Particles at Mars Orbit and a First Validation against TGO Measurements |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modeling the Radiation Environment of Energetic Particles at Mars Orbit and a First Validation against TGO Measurements |
| title_short | Modeling the Radiation Environment of Energetic Particles at Mars Orbit and a First Validation against TGO Measurements |
| title_sort | modeling the radiation environment of energetic particles at mars orbit and a first validation against tgo measurements |
| topic | Mars Space research High-energy cosmic radiation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acce3c |
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