Future space training

The Future: Space Weather and Accelerator Training

Space weather refers to the variation in the flow of high-energy charged particles in space from the sun and from outside the solar system. It can especially degrade or damage living things, such as astronauts, and electronics in spacecraft. As we enter a period with a greater presence in space, promising a new age of exploration and economic growth, there is a need to understand the effect of radiation on people and electronics and how to mitigate its harmful effects.

The most widely used approach to reach this understanding is through simulating space radiation on Earth using particle accelerators. Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island used its high-energy, heavy-ion synchrotron to host NASA biology researchers studying this unique radiation as far back as the 1990s. The NASA Human Research Program (NASA HRP) studies human spaceflight compatibility, which led to the opening of a dedicated space radiation laboratory at the accelerator in 2003, now called the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL).