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Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' - Dosimetry (ALTEA-Dosi)
02.27.09

Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Images

Experiment/Payload Overview

Brief Summary

Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' - Dosimetry (ALTEA-Dosi) will operate in DOSI mode to provide an assessment of the radiation environment inside the International Space Station, U.S. Laboratory, Destiny.

Principal Investigator

  • Livio Narici, Ph.D., University of Rome Tor Vergata and INFN, Rome Italy
  • Tamra George, Lockheed Martin, Houston, TX

    • Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

  • Piergiorgio Picozza, Ph.D., University of Rome Tor Vergata and INFN, Rome Italy
  • Walter G. Sannita, M.D., University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    • Payload Developer

    Italian Space Agency, Rome Italy
    Ezio Alippi, Alenia Spazio - Laben, Milano, Italy

    Sponsoring Agency

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

    Expeditions Assigned

    |17|18|

    Previous ISS Missions

    ALTEA collected dosimetry data during ISS Expeditions 13-15.

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    Experiment/Payload Description

    Research Summary

    • Radiation exposure represents one of the greatest risks to humans traveling on exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO).


    • Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' - Dosimetry (ALTEA-Dosi) will measure the particle flux in the U.S. Laboratory, Destiny on the International Space Station (ISS), being able to discriminate particle type and measure particle trajectory and deposited energy.


    • Comparison between data collected by ALTEA-Dosi, Intravehicular Charged Particle Directional Spectrometer (IVCPDS), and Extravhicular Charged Particle Directional Spectrometer (EVCPDS) will aid space agencies in understanding the radiation spectrum and radiation shielding characteristics of the Destiny.

    Description

    Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' - Dosimetry (ALTEA-Dosi) will utilize the ALTEA hardware: a helmet-shaped device holding 6 silicon particle detectors designed to measure cosmic radiation passing through the detectors. The six identical silicon detector units (SDU) contain three sets of x-y plane silicon strip detectors. Each plane detector is 300 micrometers thick and divided into 64 strips. An event is recorded if at least all 3 x-plane detectors have signals above threshold, and these signals are the sum of the energy deposited in four adjacent strips. The geometry factor of each SDU is 250 cm-sr and is capable of measuring particle trajectory with an angular accuracy of 1.8 degrees and can resolve individual ionizing particles of charge 4 to 28 for energies above 25 MeV/n. In previous research, an electroencephalograph (EEG) measured the brain activity of the crewmember to determine if radiation strikes caused changes in the electrophysiology of the brain in real time. A Visual Stimulator performed tests of the crewmembers' overall visual system.

    ALTEA-Dosi will continuously measure the cosmic radiation, without crewmember aid or wearing of the helmet, in the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. Laboratory, Destiny. The ALTEA-Dosi data will also be compared with data collected by Intravehicular Charged Particle Directional Spectrometer (IVCPDS), and Extravhicular Charged Particle Directional Spectrometer (EVCPDS) instruments. The IVCPDS and EVCPDS instruments measure the energy and species of individual ionizing particles of charge 1 to 10, where ALTEA-Dosi measures charge of 4 to 28; therefore, these data sets complement one another allowing for the measurement of the abundances of all ions that contribute significantly to crew radiation exposure.

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    Applications

    Space Applications

    Outside the protection of Earth's atmosphere ISS crewmembers are exposed to increased radiation, but the radiation environment is even more severe as exploration crews leave Earth's geomagnetic field and transit to other planets. The measurements made by the ALTEA hardware will help scientists characterize the heavy ion radiation spectrum inside the ISS, and the measurements while the ISS is at high geomagnetic latitudes will give insight to the radiation environment outside the Earth's magnetosphere.

    Earth Applications

    Previous research data provided from the ALTEA investigation can lead to further understanding of how radiation may affect brain function on Earth as well as in space. While the levels of heavy ion radiation are much higher in space than on Earth, any understanding into the way radiation may alter brain function is extremely useful to neuroscientists of these studies. Ion therapies to treat brain tumors will also benefit from the ALTEA results.

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    Operations

    Operational Requirements

    ALTEA-Dosi will obtain accurate measurements of the radiation environment inside the ISS to study the particle fluxes, in relation with the known fluxes outside the station. ALTEA-Dosi does not require crew time after it is unstowed

    Operational Protocols

    ALTEA-Dosi requires positioning of the helmet tilted at 90 degrees and to switch on/off via the protocol from the laptop. At the beginning of each ALTEA-Dosi measurement the crewmember will start the automatic set-up/calibration procedure and the Dosi session. At the end the crewmember will stop the Dosi measurement. During the measurement the data collected by the particle detectors needed to study energy, trajectory, and type of the cosmic particles will be sent to Earth in real time via automated telemetry.

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    Results/More Information

    Information Pending

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    Related Web Sites

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    Publications

    Results Publications

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      Related Publications
      • Narici L, Bidoli V, Casolino M, De Pascale MP, Furano G, Modena I, Morselli A, Picozza P, Reali E, Sparvoli R, Licoccia S, Romagnoli P, Traversa E, Sannita WG, Loizzo A, Galper A, Khodarovich A, Korotkov MG, Popov A, Vavilov N, Avdeev S, Salnitskii VP, Shevchenko OI, Petrov VP, Trukhanov KA, Boezio M, Bonvicini W, Vacchi A, Zampa N, Battiston R, Mazzenga G, Ricci M, Spillantini P, Castellini G, Carlson P, Fuglesang C. The ALTEA facility on the International Space Station. Physica Medica. ;17 Suppl 1:255-257. 2001
      • L. Di Fino, F. Belli, V. Bidoli, M. Casolino, L. Narici, P. Picozza, A. Rinaldi, D. Ruggieri, V. Zaconte, S. Carozzo, W.G. Sannita, P. Spillantini, V. Cotronei, E. Alippi, G. Gianelli, A. Galper, M. Korotkov, A. Popov, V.P. Petrov, V.P. Salnitskii, S. Avdeev, W. Bonvicini, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, R. Vittori, C. Fuglesang, D. Schardt. ALTEA data handling. Advances in Space Research. ;37:1710-1715. 2006
      • Narici L, Belli F, Bidoli V, Casolino M, De Pascale MP, Di Fino L, Furano G, Modena I, Morselli A, Picozza P, Reali E, Sparvoli R, Zaconte V, Sannita WG, Carozzo S, Licoccia S, Romagnoli P, Traversa E, Cotronei V, Vazquez M, Miller J, Salnitskii VP, Shevchenko OI, Petrov VP, Trukhanov KA, Galper A, Khodarovich A, Korotkov MG, Popov A, Vavilov N, Avdeev S, Boezio M, Bonvicini W, Vacchi A, Zampa N, Mazzenga G, Ricci M, Spillantini P, Castellini G, Vittori R, Carlson P, Fuglesang C, Schardt D. . The ALTEA/Alteino projects: studying functional effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation. Advances in Space Research. ;33:1352-1357. 2004
      • Casolino M, Bidoli V, Furano G, Minori M, Morselli A, Narici L, Picozza P, Reali E, Sparvoli S, Fuglesang C, Sannita WG, Carlson P, Castellini G, Tesi M, Galper A, Korotkov M, Popov A, Vavilov N, Avdeev S, Benghin V, Salnitskii VP, Shevchenko OI, Petrov VP, Trukhanov KA, Boezio M, Bonvicini W, Vacchi A, Zampa G, Zampa N, Mazzenga G, Ricci M. Spillantini, P. The Sileye-3/Alteino experiment on board the International Space Station. Nuclear Physics, A. ;113:71-78. 2002

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      Images

      imageNASA Image: ISS013E65565 - ALTEA helmet inside the U.S. Laboratory of ISS during Expedition 13.
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      Information Provided and Updated by the ISS Program Scientist's Office
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