Bioastronautical measurements of ionizing radiations in space: Nuclear emulsion monitoring report

Abstract

Abstract : Four instrumented balloons were launched from Bemidji, Minnesota to secure cosmic ray data at high elevations and to study the effects of the radiations on biological systems. Each of the flights carried small units of nuclear emulsion to provide standardization data for other electronic instrumentation and to serve as directional onitors for heavy primary radiation penetrating the brains of the the animals. Measurements were made of star production frequencies, proton enders, and heavy primary thin down hits. As a measure of solar proton enhancement, counts were made of the frequency of proton track enders in the emulsion. The ender production was essentially constant on all four flights, in agreement with earlier measurements in Minnesota, indicating the absence of any flare phenomena. It is suggested that the ratio of proton enders to stars may prove a useful parameter for indicating exposure to solar protons at balloon elevations, and small doses of trapped particles in animals flown in space probes and satellites which approach or graze the lower Van Allen belt.