Calculation of the astronauts' radiation dose from galactic cosmic ray

Abstract

Radiation risk of astronauts during the flight in low earth orbit( LEO) and deep space exploration is mainly from the exposure of galactic cosmic ray( GCR). The radiation dose from GCR is the basis for the assessment of astronauts' radiation risk. In 2013,a new estimation method for the assessment of astronauts' radiation dose was presented by the International Committee on Radiological Protection( ICRP),so as to improve the assessment's accuracy of the radiation dose from heavy ions in space. Based on this method,a Monte Carlo program was developed for simulation of the particle transportation in materials and a voxel phantom of Chinese adult male was realized in this program to represent the astronaut. With this program,the fluence to dose conversion coefficients for the organs of astronauts were calculated for the isotropic exposure by particles with the atomic number from 1 to 92. The radiation dose to astronauts in LEO from GCR was also estimated.