A Monte Carlo transport code study of the space radiation environment using FLUKA and ROOT

Abstract

We report on the progress of a current study aimed at developing a state-of-the-art Monte-Carlo computer simulation of the space radiation environment using advanced computer software techniques recently available at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva, Switzerland. By taking the next-generation computer software appearing at CERN and adapting it to known problems in the implementation of space exploration strategies, this research is identifying changes necessary to bring these two advanced technologies together. The radiation transport tool being developed is tailored to the problem of taking measured space radiation fluxes impinging on the geometry of any particular spacecraft or planetary habitat and simulating the evolution of that flux through an accurate model of the spacecraft material. The simulation uses the latest known results in low-energy and high-energy physics. The output is a prediction of the detailed nature of the radiation environment experienced in space as well as the thermal neutron albedo and secondary particle albedo created by the spacecraft material itself. Beyond doing the physics transport of the incident flux using a Monte Carlo code called FLUKA, our software tool will provide a self-contained stand-alone object-oriented analysis and visualization infrastructure. The latter is known as ROOT. We will also describe the method for defining spacecraft geometries by utilizing aerospace finite element models (FEMs).