NSF Award
9910062
9910062<br/>Miller<br/><br/>This award supports a three year collaborative research project between Dr. Jack Miller of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California and Dr. Takeshi Murakami of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba, Japan. The Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York will also be participating in the project. The researchers will be undertaking a study of the fragmentation and transport of high-energy nuclei in matter. The objective is to measure the nuclear fragmentation and transport properties of a range of ions including helium, carbon, silicon and iron in thin and thick elemental and composite targets at beam energies between 200 and 1500 MeV/nucleon. This research is of great interest to both U.S. and Japan as partners in the International Space Station. The principal source of high-energy ions in nature is the galactic cosmic radiation (GCR). The Earth's magnetic field deflects many of these particles, but during future space missions crew members will spend many months either outside the geomagnetic field or in the high inclination orbit of the International Space Station, where the protective effects are smaller than in the typical space shuttle orbit. Crew members will be exposed to considerable radiation from both primary and secondary nuclei which can cause late cancers, damage to the central nervous system and cataracts. <br/><br/>This project brings together the efforts of two laboratories that have complementary expertise and research capabilities. The Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator (HIMAC) at Chiba and the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory are among the very few accelerators in the world which can accelerate heavy charged particles to energies comparable to those found in space. They are complementary in energy, together covering the peak in the energy spectrum of the heavy ion component of galactic cosmic rays. Results of this research will be used by physicists, spacecraft shielding designers and radiobiologists to understand the effects of the heavy ion component of the galactic cosmic radiation on spacecraft shielding materials, detectors and electronics and biological systems. This research advances international human resources through the participation of graduate students. Through the exchange of ideas and technology, this project will broaden our base of basic knowledge and promote international understanding and cooperation. <br/>***
