A radiation detector partly developed by researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork is to be permanently fitted onto the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.
Unlike previous detectors, which have only revealed how much exposure astronauts may have received after their return to earth, the new system can measure radiation in real time, thereby instantly warning astronauts if they have reached dangerous levels.
The new detector has been developed as part of a European Space Agency-sponsored collaborative project that includes contributions from researchers at Tyndall, the German Aerospace Centre, RADOS/Mirion of Finland, Seibersdorf Laboratories of Austria, and PTB of Germany.
Having undergone systematic testing, the system will be permanently fitted to the ISS in June.
The Tyndall team, led by Dr Aleksander Jaksic, in close co-operation with the institute's semiconductor fabrication plant, developed, fabricated and supplied three of the four different types of radiation sensors that make up the mobile unit part of the device. Dr Jaksic said the device was the most comprehensive system ever developed for personal radiation dosimetry.
“Currently astronauts use radiation detection devices that are passive and only get analysed on their return to tell them what radiation dose they received. If a catastrophic radiation event happens, like a solar flare, they will not know about it in time to protect themselves and hide in more shielded modules of the ISS. But this device, which can be worn in a pocket, shows the radiation levels in real time and can alarm astronauts if the dose goes above a certain threshold. In addition, it enables a time resolved personal radiation record for each astronaut,” said Dr Jaksic.
The personal radiation dosimeter system is made up of two parts: a phone-sized mobile unit, worn in a pouch on the astronaut’s body, and a personal storage device, which is a docking station to recharge the unit, download data and transmit it back to Earth.
The mobile unit part of the device has recently returned from testing on the ISS, and in a world-first event, it actively monitored radiation during its launch into space on board the Soyuz spacecraft.
Details of Tyndall's involvement in the radiation detector project were announced by Taoiseach Enda Kenny during a visit to the European Space Resarch and Technology Centre (ESTEC), as part of an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to the Netherlands and Germany.
