Spaceship mini-magnetosphere force field makes Mars astronaut trip possible

Heading off to Mars has always been the next human endeavour into space

When the novelty of throwing robots at mars wears out, we will have to start throwing live people at it. Thanks to some British scientists, the humans we send might have a better chance of arriving - and alive too!

The idea is to use a portable "mini-magnetosphere" which should protect a spacecraft from harmful solar storms and cosmic rays in much the same way the Earth's magnetosphere naturally protects the planet.

Solar storms are made up of a particularly nasty form of radiation which, if encountered by astronauts, would lead to one hell of a tan and some rather unpleasant crispiness.

That's not to mention the unwanted 'cellphone in a microwave' effect it would have on the ship's electronics. (kids, don’t try this at home!)

The "mini-magnetosphere" is an idea that has been around since the 1960’s but was thought impractical as it needing a huge fusion power source, and am over 100km ‘bubble’ to be created.

It has now been taken beyond the realm of computer simulations. Researchers using an apparatus “originally built to work on fusion," which allowed researchers to recreate "a tiny piece of the Solar Wind" and confirm that a small "hole" in the wind would indeed be all that would d be necessary to keep astronauts safe. Around 100 meters or so.

Of course, the leap from the lab to an actual spacecraft is another matter entirely, but the researchers seem to think that there's quite a bit of promise in the idea. In fact Professor Bob Bingham and his colleague Dr Ruth Bamford reckon they can get the required result from a device the size of a playground roundabout.

What's more, it would draw about the same amount of power as a domestic kettle.

To infinity and beyond!

[Via PhysOrg, image courtesy of NASA ]

Comments (2)

Reply

2 Friday, 16 April 2010 10:54

hannah

it was ok but i hate its website

Reply

1 Monday, 17 November 2008 07:40

Julie

Perhaps that’s what UFO’s have, the coloured lights we see are actually the “araura borealis” effect of particles hitting their magnetosphere- Fascinating!

Add your comment

Your name:
Your email:
Comment:
Word verification:
	Post Preview

yvComment v.1.24.0