The life and work of astronauts on Earth’s orbit is strictly regulated. Many standards indicate that the astronaut can and can not do. All this is for the benefit of the people themselves, who every second put themselves in danger while in orbit, as well as the benefit of the tasks they perform.
One of the limitations is the period of stay of astronauts in earth orbit. Russian physicists have found that people can live and work at the orbital station twice as long as they do now. The conclusion was made after a detailed analysis of the level of radiation at Mir stations and the ISS for many years. It turned out that the crew members receive a dose of radiation, which is below the allowed limit for representatives of many earthly professions.
The study was conducted by experts from the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the Institute of Nuclear Physics. D.V. Skobeltsyna MSU. Scientists have performed an analysis of a selection of data on the average daily absorbed radiation doses on the Mir orbital station and the International Space Station (ISS) during their 30-year operation.
Both calculated values of radiation loads on various tissues and organs of astronauts, and indicators of standard dosimetry monitoring devices were taken into account. The conclusion made by scientists is simple - astronauts can work in orbit not for up to two years, but three or four years. The fact is that the norms have not been revised for many years, since the beginning of the work of cosmonauts in orbit.
“When manned flights began, little was known about radiation in orbit. They understood what it is, tried to measure it with simple dosimeters. In 2004, the Russian standard for the ISS was adopted. The crew members of the station were in some sense equated with people of earthly occupations who work at nuclear power plants, in X-ray cabinets. This is a great humanitarian victory. The dose that can be obtained for the entire period of professional activity is the same from an astronaut and a nuclear power plant worker, ”Vyacheslav Shurshakov, head of the Radiation Safety during Space Flight Department at IMBP,
told Izvestia.
Whatever it was, but the maximum annual radiation dose for representatives of the above professions is different. For example, for NPP employees it is 20 millisievert. An astronaut can score 500 millisievert for the same period. In fact, for the year, an “employee” of an orbital station does not receive such a volume of radiation. Maximum - 300 millisievert, and then, almost no one gets such a dose. Scientists have found that the radiation inside the human body after work in orbit is lower than the outside, which was decided to take into account when developing labor standards for astronauts.
“We and foreign partners in the experiment“ Matryoshka-R ”on the ISS used a dummy with sensors inserted into it. According to the data obtained, the level of radiation inside the body of an astronaut is 15% less than on the surface. So, it can fly by 15% longer until it reaches the maximum dose, ”said Vyacheslav Shurshakov.
At the moment, it is believed that in a lifetime a person without harm for himself can receive about 1000 millisievert. It turns out that if a cosmonaut receives a dose of 250 millisievert per year (on average), then the work period can be extended from two to four years.
According to the scientific director of the Space Policy Institute, Ivan Moiseev, the data obtained by scientists are expected and quite reliable: “There is every reason to trust these results. There are no signals that radiation in the Russian segment of the ISS exceeds the permissible norms. And these norms are very strict and established for everyone. ”
All of the above applies only to the work of people on the orbital station. As for other planets or open space, this area needs additional research and experimentation. Until now, only animals were tested on the ISS. But few people imagine how hard interstellar or solar radiation will affect cosmic wanderers. It is clear that harm will be inflicted, but it is difficult to say what and in what areas of space.
The results of the work of Russian scientists were published in the publication "Aerospace and Environmental Medicine".