RAZoom – NASA’s Solar Particle Alert Network

Radio Astronomy Section meeting on Zoom, link by request from Paul Hearn [ paul@hearn.org.uk ]

NASA’s Solar Particle Alert Network

Dr Peter Higgins, Project Manager NASA (Retired)

NASA’s Solar Particle Alert Network (SPAN) was developed to protect astronauts from potentially lethal solar radiation events during lunar missions. Experience from the solar cycle preceding the Apollo Moon landings showed that major solar-particle events could incapacitate or kill astronauts on the lunar surface, while the Lunar Module could not carry enough shielding without an unacceptable weight penalty.  The solution will be presented.