A nanotechnology-based material developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could block harmful space radiation, enabling safer human spaceflight.
Researchers at MIT in the US have developed boron nitride nanotubes that are able to block dangerous ionising radiation. This could make long-duration, deep-space missions to Mars possible.
Ionising radiation in deep space cannot currently be fully mitigated by traditional shielding. When space radiation hits the aluminium used in most spacecraft it creates secondary neutrons. Exposure to these high-energy particles could damage an astronaut’s DNA and cause serious long-term health risks.
Ionising radiation is not an issue in missions closer to Earth as our magnetic field provides protection from this radiation. But if humans are indeed aiming to reach Mars in the future then spacecraft have to be made from radiation-shielding materials.
Palak Patel, a sixth-year doctoral student in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering...