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At least 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Charged-particle mutagenesis II. Mutagenic effects of high energy charged particles in normal human fibroblasts

The biological effects of high LET charged particles are a subject of great concern with regard to the prediction of radiation risk in space. In this report, mutagenic effects of high LET charged particles are quantitatively measured using primary cultures of human skin fibroblasts, and the spectrum of induced mutations are analyzed. The LET of the charged particles ranged from 25 KeV/micrometer to 975 KeV/micrometer with particle energy (on the cells) between 94-603 MeV/u. The X-chromosome linked hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (hprt) locus was used as the target gene. Exposure to these high LET charged particles resulted in exponential survival curves; whereas, mutation induction was fitted by a linear model. The Relative Biological Effect (RBE) for cell-killing ranged from 3.73 to 1.25, while that for mutant induction ranged from 5.74 to 0.48. Maximum RBE values were obtained at the LET of 150 keV/micrometer. The inactivation cross-section (alpha i) and the action cross-section for mutant induction (alpha m) ranged from 2.2 to 92.0 micrometer2 and 0.09 to 5.56 x 10(-3) micrometer2, respectively. The maximum values were obtained by 56Fe with an LET of 200 keV/micrometer. The mutagenicity (alpha m/alpha i) ranged from 2.05 to 7.99 x 10(-5) with the maximum value at 150 keV/micrometer. Furthermore, molecular analysis of mutants induced by charged particles indicates that higher LET beams are more likely to cause larger deletions in the hprt locus.

NASA Center JSC↗
NASA NTRS1988

Preliminary estimates of galactic cosmic ray shielding requirements for manned interplanetary missions

Estimates of radiation risk to the blood forming organs from galactic cosmic rays are presented for manned interplanetary missions. The calculations use the Naval Research Laboratory cosmic ray spectrum model as input into the Langley Research Center galactic cosmic ray transport code. This transport code, which transports both heavy ions and nucleons, can be used with any number of layers of target material, consisting of up to five different constituents per layer. Calculated galactic cosmic ray doses and dose equivalents behind various thicknesses of aluminum and water shielding are presented for solar maximum and solar minimum periods. Estimates of risk to the blood forming organs are made using 5 cm depth dose/dose equivalent values for water. These results indicate that at least 5 g/sq cm (5 cm) of water of 6.5 g/sq cm (2.4 cm) of aluminum shield is required to reduce annual exposure below the current recommended limit of 50 rem. Because of the large uncertainties in fragmentation parameters, and the input cosmic ray spectrum, these exposure estimates may be uncertain by as much as 70 percent. Therefore, more detailed analyses with improved inputs could indicate the need for additional shielding.

Townsend, Lawrence W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Estimates of galactic cosmic ray shielding requirements during solar minimum

Estimates of radiation risk from galactic cosmic rays are presented for manned interplanetary missions. The calculations use the Naval Research Laboratory cosmic ray spectrum model as input into the Langley Research Center galactic cosmic ray transport code. This transport code, which transports both heavy ions and nucleons, can be used with any number of layers of target material, consisting of up to five different arbitrary constituents per layer. Calculated galactic cosmic ray fluxes, dose and dose equivalents behind various thicknesses of aluminum, water and liquid hydrogen shielding are presented for the solar minimum period. Estimates of risk to the skin and the blood-forming organs (BFO) are made using 0-cm and 5-cm depth dose/dose equivalent values, respectively, for water. These results indicate that at least 3.5 g/sq cm (3.5 cm) of water, or 6.5 g/sq cm (2.4 cm) of aluminum, or 1.0 g/sq cm (14 cm) of liquid hydrogen shielding is required to reduce the annual exposure below the currently recommended BFO limit of 0.5 Sv. Because of large uncertainties in fragmentation parameters and the input cosmic ray spectrum, these exposure estimates may be uncertain by as much as a factor of 2 or more. The effects of these potential exposure uncertainties or shield thickness requirements are analyzed.

Townsend, Lawrence W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Radiation issues for piloted Mars mission

Current radiation risk for a piloted Mars mission is estimated using the idea of absorbed dose and ICRP-26, LET-dependent quality factors. In a spacecraft with aluminum walls (2 g/sq cm) at solar minimum the calculated dose equivalent is 0.73 Sv for a 406-day mission. Based on the current thinking this leads to an excess cancer mortality in a 35-year male of about 1 percent. About 75 percent of the dose equivalent is contributed by HZE particles and target fragments with average quality factors of 10.3 and 20, respectively. The entire concept of absorbed dose, quality factor, and dose equivalent as applied to such missions needs to be reexamined, in light of the fact that less than 50 percent of the nuclei in the body of the astronaut would have been traversed by a single GCR nuclei in the 406-day mission.

Badhwar, Gautam D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Charged-particle mutagenesis 2. Mutagenic effects of high energy charged particles in normal human fibroblasts

The biological effects of high Linear Energy Transfer (LET) charged particles are a subject of great concern with regard to the prediction of radiation risk in space. In this report, mutagenic effects of high LET charged particles are quantitatively measured using primary cultures of human skin fibroblasts, and the spectrum of induced mutations are analyzed. The LET of the charged particles ranged from 25 KeV/micrometer to 975 KeV/micrometer with particle energy (on the cells) between 94-603 MeV/u. The X-chromosome linked hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (hprt) locus was used as the target gene. Exposure to these high LET charged particles resulted in exponential survival curves; whereas, mutation induction was fitted by a linear model. The Relative Biological Effect (RBE) for cell-killing ranged from 3.73 to 1.25, while that for mutant induction ranged from 5.74 to 0.48. Maximum RBE values were obtained at the LET of 150 keV/micrometer. The inactivation cross-section (alpha i) and the action cross-section for mutant induction (alpha m) ranged from 2.2 to 92.0 sq micrometer and 0.09 to 5.56 x 10(exp -3) sq micrometer respectively. The maximum values were obtained by Fe-56 with an LET of 200 keV/micrometer. The mutagenicity (alpha m/alpha i) ranged from 2.05 to 7.99 x 10(exp -5) with the maximum value at 150 keV/micrometer. Furthermore, molecular analysis of mutants induced by charged particles indicates that higher LET beams are more likely to cause larger deletions in the hprt locus.

Chen, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Long-term modulation of galactic cosmic radiation and its model for space exploration

As the human exploration of space has received new attention in the United States, studies find that exposure to space radiation could adversely impact the mission design. Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR), with its very wide range of charges and energies, is particularly important for a mission to Mars, because it imposes a stiff mass penalty for spacecraft shielding. Dose equivalent versus shielding thickness calculations, show a rapid initial drop on exposure with thickness, but an asymptotic behavior at a higher shielding thickness. Uncertainties in the radiobiology are largely unknown. For a fixed radiation risk, this leads to large uncertainties in shielding thickness for small uncertainties in estimated dose. In this paper we investigate the application of steady-state, spherically-symmetric diffusion-convection theory of solar modulation to individual measurements of differential energy spectra from 1954 to 1989 in order to estimate the diffusion coefficient, kappa(r,t), as a function of time. We have correlated the diffusion coefficient to the Climax neutron monitor rates and show that, if the diffusion coefficient can be separated into independent functions of space and time: kappa(r,t)=K(t) k(sub 0) beta Pk(sub 1) (r), where beta is the particle velocity and P the rigidity, then (i) The time dependent quantity 1/K(t), which is proportional to the deceleration potential, phi(r,t), is linearly related to the Climax neutron monitor counting rate. (ii) The coefficients obtained from hydrogen or helium intensity measurements are the same. (iii) There are different correlation functions for odd and even solar cycles. (iv) The correlation function for the Climax neutron monitor counting rate for given time, t, can be used to estimate mean deceleration parameter phi(t) to within +/- 15% with 90% confidence. We have shown that k(r,t) determined from hydrogen and/or helium data, can be used to fit the oxygen and iron differential energy spectra with a root mean square error of about +/- 10%, and essentially independent of the particle charge or energy. We have also examined the ion chamber and C-14 measurements which allow the analysis to be extended from the year 1906 to 1990. Using this model we have defined reference GCR spectra at solar minimum and solar maximum. These can be used for space exploration studies and provide a quantitative estimate of the error in dose due to changes in GCR intensities.

Badhwan, G. D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Importance of dose-rate and cell proliferation in the evaluation of biological experimental results

The nuclei of cells within the bodies of astronauts traveling on extended missions outside the geomagnetosphere will experience single traversals of particles with high Linear Energy Transfer (LET) (e.g., one iron ion per one hundred years, on average) superimposed on a background of tracks with low LET (approximately one proton every two to three days, and one helium ion per month). In addition, some cell populations within the body will be proliferating, thus possibly providing increasing numbers of cells with 'initiated' targets for subsequent radiation hits. These temporal characteristics are not generally reproduced in laboratory experimental protocols. Implications of the differences in the temporal patterns of radiation delivery between conventionally designed radiation biology experiments and the pattern to be experienced in space are examined and the importance of dose-rate and cell proliferation are pointed out in the context of radiation risk assessment on long mission in space.

Curtis, S. B.↗
NASA NTRS1999

The Radiation Environment in Free Space and Inside Low-Earth Spacecraft's

There are three main sources of radiation in free space. These are the trapped protons and electrons, solar energetic particles, and the galactic cosmic rays. For human mission to Mars or moon, the trapped protons and electrons are of a minor concern. The flux of trapped particles at a fixed spacecraft altitude, and of galactic cosmic rays, decreases as the solar activity increases; however, the probability of a solar particle event increases as the solar activity increases. As these particles interact with the shielding material of the spacecraft and human body, they produce secondary particles, such as lighter fragments, target fragments, and neutrons. These particles can have far more damaging effect on cells than the primary particles. Thus, the radiation environment is very complex and varies with time. In this paper, we review the sources of charged-particles that contribute significantly to radiation risk to the astronauts, and estimates of exposure for some typical missions, such as Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and a human mission to Mars.

Badhwar, Gautam D.↗
NASA NTRS2000

NASA Countermeasures Evaluation and Validation Project

To support its ISS and exploration class mission objectives, NASA has developed a Countermeasure Evaluation and Validation Project (CEVP). The goal of this project is to evaluate and validate the optimal complement of countermeasures required to maintain astronaut health, safety, and functional ability during and after short- and long-duration space flight missions. The CEVP is the final element of the process in which ideas and concepts emerging from basic research evolve into operational countermeasures. The CEVP is accomplishing these objectives by conducting operational/clinical research to evaluate and validate countermeasures to mitigate these maladaptive responses. Evaluation is accomplished by testing in space flight analog facilities, and validation is accomplished by space flight testing. Both will utilize a standardized complement of integrated physiological and psychological tests, termed the Integrated Testing Regimen (ITR) to examine candidate countermeasure efficacy and intersystem effects. The CEVP emphasis is currently placed on validating the initial complement of ISS countermeasures targeting bone, muscle, and aerobic fitness; followed by countermeasures for neurological, psychological, immunological, nutrition and metabolism, and radiation risks associated with space flight. This presentation will review the processes, plans, and procedures that will enable CEVP to play a vital role in transitioning promising research results into operational countermeasures necessary to maintain crew health and performance during long duration space flight.

Lundquist, Charlie M.↗
NASA NTRS1999

GCR Transport in the Brain: Assessment of Self-Shielding, Columnar Damage, and Nuclear Reactions on Cell Inactivation Rates

Radiation shield design is driven by the need to limit radiation risks while optimizing risk reduction with launch mass/expense penalties. Both limitation and optimization objectives require the development of accurate and complete means for evaluating the effectiveness of various shield materials and body-self shielding. For galactic cosmic rays (GCR), biophysical response models indicate that track structure effects lead to substantially different assessments of shielding effectiveness relative to assessments based on LET-dependent quality factors. Methods for assessing risk to the central nervous system (CNS) from heavy ions are poorly understood at this time. High-energy and charge (HZE) ion can produce tissue events resulting in damage to clusters of cells in a columnar fashion, especially for stopping heavy ions. Grahn (1973) and Todd (1986) have discussed a microlesion concept or model of stochastic tissue events in analyzing damage from HZE's. Some tissues, including the CNS, maybe sensitive to microlesion's or stochastic tissue events in a manner not illuminated by either conventional dosimetry or fluence-based risk factors. HZE ions may also produce important lateral damage to adjacent cells. Fluences of high-energy proton and alpha particles in the GCR are many times higher than HZE ions. Behind spacecraft and body self-shielding the ratio of protons, alpha particles, and neutrons to HZE ions increases several-fold from free-space values. Models of GCR damage behind shielding have placed large concern on the role of target fragments produced from tissue atoms. The self-shielding of the brain reduces the number of heavy ions reaching the interior regions by a large amount and the remaining light particle environment (protons, neutrons, deuterons. and alpha particles) may be the greatest concern. Tracks of high-energy proton produce nuclear reactions in tissue, which can deposit doses of more than 1 Gv within 5 - 10 cell layers. Information on rates of cell killing from GCR, including patterns of cell killing from single particle tracks. can provide useful information on expected differences between proton and HZE tracks and clinical experiences with photon irradiation. To model effects on cells in the brain, it is important that transport models accurately describe changes in the GCR due to interactions in the cranium and proximate tissues. We describe calculations of the attenuated GCR particle fluxes at three dose-points in the brain and associated patterns of cell killing using biophysical models. The effects of the brain self-shielding and bone-tissue interface of the skull in modulating the GCR environment are considered. For each brain dose-point, the mass distribution in the surrounding 4(pi) solid angle is characterized using the CAM model to trace 512 rays. The CAM model describes the self-shielding by converting the tissue distribution to mass-equivalent aluminum, and nominal values of spacecraft shielding is considered. Particle transport is performed with the proton, neutron, and heavy-ion transport code HZETRN with the nuclear fragmentation model QMSFRG. The distribution of cells killed along the path of individual GCR ions is modeled using in vitro cell inactivation data for cells with varying sensitivity. Monte Carlo simulations of arrays of inactivated cells are considered for protons and heavy ions and used to describe the absolute number of cell killing events of various magnitude in the brain from the GCR. Included are simulations of positions of inactivated cells from stopping heavy ions and nuclear stars produced by high-energy ions most importantly, protons and neutrons.

Shavers, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Proton-Nucleus Total Cross Sections in Coupled-Channel Approach

Recently, nucleon-nucleon (N-N) cross sections in the medium have been extracted directly from experiment. The in-medium N-N cross sections form the basic ingredients of several heavy-ion scattering approaches including the coupled-channel approach developed at the Langley Research Center. In the present study the ratio of the real to the imaginary part of the two-body scattering amplitude in the medium was investigated. These ratios are used in combination with the in-medium N-N cross sections to calculate total proton-nucleus cross sections. The agreement is excellent with the available experimental data. These cross sections are needed for the radiation risk assessment of space missions.

Tripathi, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Proton-Nucleus Elastic Cross Sections Using Two-Body In-Medium Scattering Amplitudes

Recently, a method was developed of extracting nucleon-nucleon (NN) cross sections in the medium directly from experiment. The in-medium NN cross sections form the basic ingredients of several heavy-ion scattering approaches including the coupled-channel approach developed at the Langley Research Center. The ratio of the real to the imaginary part of the two-body scattering amplitude in the medium was investigated. These ratios are used in combination with the in-medium NN cross sections to calculate elastic proton-nucleus cross sections. The agreement is excellent with the available experimental data. These cross sections are needed for the radiation risk assessment of space missions.

Tripathi, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Approach and Issues Relating to Shield Material Design to Protect Astronauts from Space Radiation

One major obstacle to human space exploration is the possible limitations imposed by the adverse effects of long-term exposure to the space environment. Even before human spaceflight began, the potentially brief exposure of astronauts to the very intense random solar energetic particle (SEP) events was of great concern. A new challenge appears in deep space exploration from exposure to the low-intensity heavy-ion flux of the galactic cosmic rays (GCR) since the missions are of long duration and the accumulated exposures can be high. Since aluminum (traditionally used in spacecraft to avoid potential radiation risks) leads to prohibitively expensive mission launch costs, alternative materials need to be explored. An overview of the materials related issues and their impact on human space exploration will be given.

Wilson, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Post-flight Analysis of the Argon Filled Ion Chamber

Atmospheric ionizing radiation is a complex mixture of primary galactic and solar cosmic rays and a multitude of secondary particles produced in collision with air nuclei. The first series of Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation (AIR) measurement flights on the NASA research aircraft ER-2 took place in June 1997. The ER-2 flight package consisted of fifteen instruments from six countries and were chosen to provide varying sensitivity to specific components. These AIR ER-2 flight measurements are to characterize the AIR environment during solar minimum to allow the continued development of environmental models of this complex mixture of ionizing radiation. This will enable scientists to study the ionizing radiation health hazard associated with the high-altitude operation of a commercial supersonic transport and to allow estimates of single event upsets for advanced avionics systems design. The argon filled ion chamber representing about 40 percent of the contributions to radiation risks are analyzed herein and model discrepancies for solar minimum environment are on the order of 5 percent and less. Other biologically significant components remain to be analyzed.

Tai, H.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Induction of micronuclei in human fibroblasts across the Bragg curve of energetic heavy ions

The space environment consists of a varying field of radiation particles including high energy ions, with spacecraft shielding material providing the major protection to astronauts from harmful exposure. Unlike low-L or X-rays, the presence of shielding does not always reduce the radiation risks for energetic charged particle exposure. Although the dose delivered by the charged particle increases sharply as the particle approaches the Bragg peak, the Bragg curve does not necessarily represent the biological damage along the particle traversal. The "biological Bragg curve" is dependent on the energy and the type of the primary particle, and may vary for different biological endpoints. To investigate "biological Bragg curves", we analyzed micronuclei (MN) induction along the particle traversal of Si and Fe ions at incident energies of 300 MeV/nucleon and 1 GeV/nucleon. A quantitative biological response curve did not reveal an increased yield of MN at the location of the Bragg peak. However, the ratio of mono-to bi-nucleated cells, which indicates inhibition in cell progression, increased at the Bragg peak location. These results confirm the hypothesis that "over kill" at the Bragg peak will affect the outcome of other biological endpoints.

Hada, Megumi↗
NASA NTRS2005

In Vitro Experimental Model to Investigate the Biological Effects across the Bragg Curve of High-LET Radiation

The space environment consists of a varying field of radiation particles including high energy ions, with a spacecrafts shielding material providing the only major protection to astronauts from harmful exposure. Unlike lowLET gamma or Xrays, the presence of shielding does not always reduce the radiation risks for energetic charged particle exposure since the dose delivered by the charged particle increases sharply as the particle approaches the end of its range, a position known as the Bragg peak and the correlating spatial dose distribution identified as the Bragg curve. The Bragg curve does not necessarily represent the biological damage along the particle traversal since biological effects are influenced by the track structure of both primary and secondary particles. Therefore, the biological Bragg curve is dependent of the energy and the type of the primary particle, and may vary for different biological endpoints. Here we describe a unique irradiation geometry and experimental system to measure the biological response across the Bragg curve in one consistent biological sample. Polyethylene shielding was used to achieve a Bragg curve distribution with the beam geometry parallel to a monolayer of fibroblast cells. We present data that highlights the differential formation of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) and chromosomal deletions across the Bragg curve in human fibroblasts irradiated with 600 MeV/nucleon iron ion beams. Qualitative analyses of gammaH2AX fluorescence, a known marker of DSBs, indicated potentially increased clustering of DNA damage before the Bragg peak, enhanced homogenous distribution at the peak, and provided visual evidence of high linear energy transfer (LET) particle traversal of cells beyond the Bragg peak in agreement with one-dimensional transport approximations. A biological response curve generated for micronuclei induction across the Bragg curve for 600 MeV/n Fe ions did not reveal an increase in the yield of micronuclei at the Bragg peak location. Assessment of such biological parameters employing the described in vitro experimental system may provide improved platforms to measure a number of biological consequences of shielding materials across the Bragg curve for high charge and energy (HZE) ions.

Desai, N.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Induction of Micronuclei in Human Fibroblasts across the Bragg Curve of Energetic Si and Fe Ions

The space environment consists of a varying field of radiation particles including high-energy ions, with spacecraft shielding material providing the major protection to astronauts from harmful exposure. Unlike low-LET gamma or X-rays, the presence of shielding does not always reduce the radiation risks for energetic charged particle exposure. Since the dose delivered by the charged particle increases sharply as the particle approaches the end of its range, a position known as the Bragg peak, the Bragg curve does not necessarily represent the biological damage along the particle traversal since biological effects are influenced by the track structure of both primary and secondary particles. Therefore, the biological Bragg curve is dependent on the energy and the type of the primary particle, and may vary for different biological endpoints. We studied micronuclei (MN) induction across the Bragg curve of Si and Fe ions at incident energies of 300 MeV/nucleon and 1 GeV/nucleon. A quantitative biological response curve did not reveal an increased yield of MN at the location of the Bragg peak. However, the ratio of mono- to bi-nucleated cells, which indicates inhibition in cell progression, increased at the Bragg peak location. These results confirm the hypothesis that severely damaged cells at the Bragg peak are likely to go through reproduction death.

Wu, H.↗