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Scientists at CERN have begun testing a new prototype coil made of magnesium diboride (MgB2), which they hope will be the precursor to an active magnetic shield for space craft travelling in deep space. Although current space craft are capable of shielding radiation from Sol, the shield must protect against galactic cosmic rays.
From the article:
During long-duration trips in space and in the absence of the magnetosphere that protects people living on Earth, astronauts are bombarded with high-energy cosmic rays that might cause a significant increase in the probability of various types of cancers. Because of this, exploration missions to Mars or other distant destinations will only become realistically possible if an effective solution for adequately shielding astronauts is found. ...
There are many more challenges to overcome before a spacecraft shield can be built: various possible magnetic configurations need to be tested and compared and other key enabling technologies need to be developed. But the MgB2 superconductor seems to be very well-placed to take part in this challenging adventure as, among its many advantages, there is also its ability to operate at higher temperatures (up to about 25 K) thus allowing the spacecraft to have a simplified cryogenic system.
(Score: 2) by Covalent on Friday August 07 2015, @12:59PM
This is a huge piece of getting people off of the Earth, but it might be possible for this field to do double duty. Since this field will deflect radiation, it might be used as a magnetic solar sail to provide thrust to the craft.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_sail [wikipedia.org]
Thrust and radiation protection in a lightweight package is pretty awesome. Time to put a prototype on the ISS.
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @04:19PM
They've already got a cryogenic high field magnet pork project [ams02.org] on the ISS (it didn't get the go-ahead based on its scientific merits), why do they need another?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 07 2015, @04:30PM
There is very little meat being provided here, so expect this to be vaporware. The last time I ran the numbers, back when I was a cosmic ray guy, this was an unfeasible approach given the momenta of the particles you need to shield against. They say it would provide a magnetic bubble out to 10 meters. That is a very short distance to affect incoming charged particles.
I've noticed more than a few technology transfer pub releases out of CERN recently. It seems they are being more aggressive in claiming their tech will solve the World problems than they typically have been in the past. I suspect that funding must be tightening up and they are in fishing mode these days.