Radiation Effects from ISM and Cosmic Ray Particle Impacts on Relativistic Spacecraft
arXiv:2201.02721 · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac6a50
Abstract
Relativistic spacecraft, like those proposed by the NASA Starlight program and the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative, will have to survive radiation production that is unique when compared to that experienced by conventional spacecraft. In a relativistic interstellar spacecraft's reference frame, the interstellar medium (ISM) will look like a nearly mono-energetic beam of charged particles which impinges upon the leading edge of the spacecraft. Upon impact, ISM protons and electrons will travel characteristic lengths through the spacecraft shield and come to a stop via electronic and nuclear stopping mechanisms. As a result, bremsstrahlung photons will be produced within the spacecraft shield. In this work, we discuss the interstellar environment and its implications for radiation damage on relativistic spacecraft. We also explore expected radiation doses in terms of on-board device radiation tolerance.
Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal, accepted
References in corpus (4)
- The interaction of relativistic spacecrafts with the interstellar medium
- Cosmic-ray database update: ultra-high energy, ultra-heavy, and anti-nuclei cosmic-ray data (CRDB v4.0)
- Electromagnetic forces on a relativistic spacecraft in the interstellar medium
- Damage to Relativistic Interstellar Spacecraft by ISM Impact Gas Accumulation