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[Total radiation risk from interplanetary and orbital missions to cosmonauts by the end of career and over the life time].

Models of radiation rate of mammalian mortality and algorithm for calculating the generalized dose from space radiations laid the basis for mathematical description of the probability of cosmohaut's survival in a delayed period after exposure as a function of generalized dose. Derived relations are intended to estimate the total radiation risk by any time point following exposure; expressions can be used to predict reduction inf mean expected lifetime after exposure of cosmonauts to different radiation doses. Presented are calculations of total radiation risk to cosmonauts from interplanetary and orbital missions of varying length by the end of career and over the whole lifetime. Additionally, calculated reduction in mean expected lifetime in consequence of space radiation exposure is given and the dependence of delayed radiation effects on mission length, spacecraft shielding, solar cycle, and age at the launch is analyzed.

Adult↗

Radiation dosimetry and biophysical models of space radiation effects.

Estimating the biological risks from space radiation remains a difficult problem because of the many radiation types including protons, heavy ions, and secondary neutrons, and the absence of epidemiology data for these radiation types. Developing useful biophysical parameters or models that relate energy deposition by space particles to the probabilities of biological outcomes is a complex problem. Physical measurements of space radiation include the absorbed dose, dose equivalent, and linear energy transfer (LET) spectra. In contrast to conventional dosimetric methods, models of radiation track structure provide descriptions of energy deposition events in biomolecules, cells, or tissues, which can be used to develop biophysical models of radiation risks. In this paper, we address the biophysical description of heavy particle tracks in the context of the interpretation of both space radiation dosimetry and radiobiology data, which may provide insights into new approaches to these problems.

Astronauts↗

Proton and heavy ion acceleration facilities for space radiation research.

The particles and energies commonly used for medium energy nuclear physics and heavy charged particle radiobiology and radiotherapy at particle accelerators are in the charge and energy range of greatest interest for space radiation health. In this article we survey some of the particle accelerator facilities in the United States and around the world that are being used for space radiation health and related research, and illustrate some of their capabilities with discussions of selected accelerator experiments applicable to the human exploration of space.

Cosmic Radiation↗

Radiation: risk and protection in manned space flight.

Space radiation is the primary source of hazard for orbital and interplanetary space flight. Radiation levels for different space mission durations, have been established in order to determine the level of hazard. The risk of exceeding the established levels should not be more than 1%. Radiation environment models have been developed to estimate these values. It is possible to build spacecraft shielding based on the calculation of doses and the risk of exceeding these. By reviewing various calculated estimates of the risk, the radiation hazard and the efficiency of protective measures can be established for specific flights.

Aerospace Medicine↗

Early and late mammalian responses to heavy charged particles.

This overview summarizes murine results on acute lethality responses, inactivation of marrow CFU-S and intestinal microcolonies, testes weight loss, life span shortening, and posterior lens opacification in mice irradiated with heavy charged particles. RBE-LET relationships for these mammalian responses are compared with results from in vitro studies. The trend is that the maximum RBE for in vivo responses tends to be lower and occurs at a lower LET than for inactivation of V79 and T-1 cells in culture. Based on inactivation cross sections, the response of CFU-S in vivo conforms to expectations from earlier studies with prokaryotic systems and mammalian cells in culture. Effects of heavy ions are compared with fission spectrum neutrons, and the results are consistent with the interpretation that RBEs are lower than for fission neutrons at about the same LET, probably due to differences in track structure. Issues discussed focus on challenges associated with assessments of early and late effects of charged particles based on dose, RBE and LET, and with the concordance or discordance of results obtained with in vivo and in vitro model systems. Models for radiation damage/repair and misrepair should consider effects observed with in vivo as well as in vitro model systems.

Animals↗

The limitations of using vertical cutoff rigidities determined from the IGRF magnetic field models for computing aircraft radiation dose.

Vertical cutoff rigidities derived from the International Geomagnetic Reference Fields (IGRF) are normally used to compute the radiation dose at a specific location and to organize the radiation dose measurements acquired at aircraft altitudes. This paper presents some of the usually ignored limits on the accuracy of the vertical cutoff rigidity models and describes some of the computational artifacts present in these models. It is noted that recent aircraft surveys of the radiation dose experienced along specific flight paths is sufficiently precise that the secular variation of the geomagnetic field is observable.

Aircraft↗

Detection of DNA damage induced by space radiation in Mir and space shuttle.

Although physical monitoring of space radiation has been accomplished, we aim to measure exact DNA damage as caused by space radiation. If DNA damage is caused by space radiation, we can detect DNA damage dependent on the length of the space flight periods by using post-labeling methods. To detect DNA damage caused by space radiation, we placed fixed human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells in the Russian Mir space station for 40 days and in an American space shuttle for 9 days. After landing, we labeled space-radiation-induced DNA strand breaks by enzymatic incorporation of [3H]-dATP with terminal deoxyribo-nucleotidyl transferase (TdT). We detected DNA damage as many grains on fixed silver emulsion resulting from beta-rays emitted from 3H-atoms in the nuclei of the cells placed in the Mir-station (J/Mir mission, STS-89), but detected hardly any in the ground control sample. In the space shuttle samples (S/MM-8), the number of cells having many grains was lower than that in the J/Mir mission samples. These results suggest that DNA damage is caused by space radiation and that it is dependent on the length of the space flight.

Cosmic Radiation↗

Gene expression changes in normal human skin fibroblasts induced by HZE-particle radiation.

Studies have shown that radiation exposure affects global gene expression in mammalian cells. However, little is known about the effects of HZE particles on gene expression. To study these effects, human skin fibroblasts were irradiated with HZE particles of different energies and LETs. The data obtained from these experiments indicate that changes in gene expression are dependent on the energy of the radiation source. Particles with the highest energy, i.e. iron, induced the biggest expression changes in terms of numbers of genes and magnitudes of changes. Many genes were found to undergo significant expression changes after HZE-particle irradiation, including CDKN1A/p21, MDM2, TNFRSF6/fas, PCNA and RAD52. Unlike X rays, HZE particles expose cells to two types of radiation: primary ions and delta rays. We hypothesized that the biological effects of delta rays, which are secondary electron emissions, should resemble the effects of X rays. To explore this idea, gene expression changes between cells that had been irradiated with HZE particles and X rays were compared. The results support our hypothesis since the number of genes that commonly changed after exposure to both radiations increased as a function of particle energy.

Cells, Cultured↗

[Protective effect of natural dietary antioxidants on space radiation-induced damages].

This paper described the radiation-induced damage on human body in space and summarized the studies of antioxidants such as Vit C, Vit E, Vit A, beta-carotene, flavonoids, polysaccharide, green-tea and Spirulina protection against radiation-induced damage. Application prospects of natural antioxidants in space food were also put forward in this article.

Antioxidants↗

The FLUKA radiation transport code and its use for space problems.

FLUKA is a multiparticle transport code capable of handling hadronic and electromagnetic showers up to very high energies (100 TeV), widely used for radioprotection and detector simulation studies. The physical models embedded into FLUKA are briefly described and their capabilities demonstrated against available experimental data. The complete modelling of cosmic ray showers in the earth atmosphere with FLUKA is also described, and its relevance for benchmarking the code for space-like environments discussed. Finally, the ongoing developments of the physical models of the code are presented and discussed.

Aerospace Medicine↗

Forbush decrease effects on radiation dose received on-board aeroplanes.

Doses received on-board aeroplanes during deep Forbush decreases (FDs) have been recently measured and published. Using an operational model of dose calculation, the effects on aviation dose of the FDs observed from 1981 to 2003 using neutron monitors are studied and a simplified method to estimate dose variations from galactic cosmic ray variations during FDs is derived.

Aerospace Medicine↗

LDEF radiation measurements: preliminary results.

The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), retrieved by the Space Shuttle mission STS-32 after nearly 6 yr in orbit, is the focus of a broad-based study of the radiation environment in low Earth orbit (LEO) and its effects on materials. A combination of passive techniques has been used to study this environment via detectors which were contained in experiments aboard the LDEF spacecraft and through analysis of induced radioactivities. Preliminary results for absorbed dose measurements and for induced activities in various materials are presented. A number of effects have been observed which reflect the anisotropy of the charged particle flux in low Earth orbit. Quantitative results from these measurements should provide an accurate means of confirming environmental flux models and techniques for predicting radiation encountered in future LEO missions, particularly those of extended duration.

Activation Analysis↗

Quantitative image analysis of laminin immunoreactivity in skin basement membrane irradiated with 1 GeV/nucleon iron particles.

We previously reported that laminin immunoreactivity in mouse mammary epithelium is altered shortly after whole-body irradiation with 0.8 Gy from 600 MeV/nucleon iron ions but is unaffected after exposure to sparsely ionizing radiation. This observation led us to propose that the effect could be due to protein damage from the high ionization density of the ion tracks. If so, we predicted that it would be evident soon after radiation exposure in basement membranes of other tissues and would depend on ion fluence. To test this hypothesis, we used immunofluorescence, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and image segmentation techniques to quantify changes in the basement membrane of mouse skin epidermis. At 1 h after exposure to 1 GeV/nucleon iron ions with doses from 0.03 to 1.6 Gy, neither the visual appearance nor the mean pixel intensity of laminin in the basement membrane of mouse dorsal skin epidermis was altered compared to sham-irradiated tissue. This result does not support the hypothesis that particle traversal directly affects laminin protein integrity. However, the mean pixel intensity of laminin immunoreactivity was significantly decreased in epidermal basement membrane at 48 and 96 h after exposure to 0.8 Gy 1 GeV/nucleon iron ions. We confirmed this effect with two additional antibodies raised against affinity-purified laminin 1 and the E3 fragment of the long-arm of laminin 1. In contrast, collagen type IV, another component of the basement membrane, was unaffected. Our studies demonstrate quantitatively that densely ionizing radiation elicits changes in skin microenvironments distinct from those induced by sparsely ionizing radiation. Such effects may might contribute to the carcinogenic potential of densely ionizing radiation by altering cellular signaling cascades mediated by cell-extracellular matrix interactions.

Aerospace Medicine↗

[Measurements of proton response of two lithium fluoride detectors with different thicknesses].

OBJECTIVE: To study the response characteristics of LiF detectors to proton fluence rate and energy, and to observe the thickness effect of the detector. METHOD: Protons were generated by an accelerator. Proton energy was changed in two ways, i.e. changing the accelerator energy directly, or using detector stacks to absorb the proton energy. The incident proton energy on each chip of detector stacks was calculated according to proton range in LiF. RESULT: The response of the detector to proton fluence rate was almost constant; when proton energy was above 9 MeV, the response of the detector to proton energy was constant (less than 10% errors). When proton energy was below 9 MeV, the response reduced gradually with the decrease of proton energy. Thickness effect for LiF thicknesses of 0.4mm and 0.8mm was not obvious. CONCLUSION: The homemade LiF detector is suitable for measurement of space radiation dose. When proton component (below 9 MeV) was abundant in radiation field, the decrease of the relative thermoluminescence efficiency should be taken into consideration.

Cosmic Radiation↗

Manned expedition to Mars: concepts & problems.

In this article presents general concept of interplanetary spacecraft and bio-medical aspect of long interplanetary flight, the problems of technical supply for their solving. Presents version of the programme of the flight to Mars. This paper discusses the main specific factors of the flight: after long duration of being in the microgravity state, the men are subjected to the pressure of lineary and shock overload, augmented radiation, caused by crossing Earth radiation belts possible solar flares and the influence of galactic space radiation, and etc. The concept biomedical problems and technical supply for their solving are schematic reflected in tables 1, 2, 3, 4.

Aerospace Medicine↗