Active Sheilding

Bill,

So, I take it you now agree that active shielding can be used to at least deal with cosmic rays and positively charged ions from the sun? By the way, we are talking about billions of volts, not millions since I believe that cosmic rays have an energy equivalent to 30 billion EV.

Now, lets proceed with dealing with those pesky electrons. Since they have a relatively low mass and can be compelled to turn at very sharp corners, we can use either an electric or magnetic field to divert them.

>From a distance, a 1km diameter shell appears to be a point charge. Instead of charging the exterior of the colony with the high charge, lets charge instead a spherical wire grid surrounding the colony. Electrons are attracted to the positively charged grid and are neutralized or diverted, and positively charged nuclei are repelled. Only problem remains to maintain the charge and construction.

Cheers,

Tom

From: bill t
To: spacesettlers@egroups.com
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2000 2:18 PM
Subject: [spacesettlers] Re: Active Sheilding

If you are a million volt positive charge, every electron in the
solarsystem will be attracted to you. When they hit the outer shell
they will have a million eV energy each. when a electron hits a metal
(the outer shell) it produces X-Rays. These X-Rays will be directed
towards the interior of the habitat. Thus you will have a constant
X-Ray source inside the habitat.

Finally, for every positive charged nuclei that gets thrown out of the
sun, there is at least one electron that has been dissaciated from it.

Bill

--- In spacesettlers@egroups.com, "Tom Tucker (Olympia)"
wrote:
>
> From: Ian Woollard
> To: spacesettlers@egroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2000 8:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Active Sheilding
>
> bill t wrote:
>
> > The main problem with Active Shielding...
>
> The main problem with active shielding is that it doesn't
> work. Period.
>
> > You can arrange a magnetic field to deflect the electrons, but
I'm
> > wondering what the weight of the material, and the power
utilization
> > is. All the power is heat that has to be radiated away. This
means
> > more radiators.
>
> Radiators aren't a problem. The problem is that people die
> from radiation poisoning (10% chance of cancer per 5-10 years
> if I remember correctly), caused by cosmic rays. Active shielding
> doesn't touch cosmic rays- they're waaaay too high energy. We
> can't even produce rays that powerful in our particle
> accelerators that are miles across and use whole power
> stations to keep them running; active shielding
> has absolutely no chance of even deflecting it,
> and quite a lot of the particles aren't even charged
> anyway.
> Tom Tucker - Bill, cosmic rays are nuculi that have been stripped
of their electrons which makes them positively charged. Solar flares
are a storm of charged particles with the bulk also consisting of
ionized nuculi. Both of these types of deadly radiation can be
repelled by a positive high voltage charge. Since in space, there is
no place for a charge to arc or to drain from via ionization as there
is when in an atmosphere, one could perhaps build-up a charge of
billions of volts which is comparable to that of cosmic rays and in
excess of that found in solar flares. The positive charge would be
maintained/generated by the use of an electron gun/accelerator located
a few KM from the space craft on the end of a conductive tether. In
space, we can generate much higher voltages than we can on earth.
> Particle accelerators produce very heavy nuculi at hear the
velocitiy of light, but this is not relevant to the electrostatic
shielding under discussion here.
> Proof of concept has yet to be attempted, but hypothetically, it
can be done.
>
> X-Rays from the sun and stars are a much smaller worry and some
light shielding would still be needed for these EMF for which active
shielding will be ineffective. How much would be needed? Need more
data. Perhaps the few CM of steel that a "cruise ship type habitat"
would use would be sufficient?
>
> 6 foot of just about anything non radioactive works wonders.
>
> If a lunar mass driver is used that's not ridiculous.
>
> I worked out about $100/ft^2 ballpark. Getting some
> near earth asteroids should be cheaper still (some
> of them have delta-vs of tens of meters - yes that's
> right meters not kilometers, per second.)
>
> Living in asteroids will be much cheaper. Shoring up the
> inside of an asteriod you've mined out is pretty simple and cheap
> in microgravity.
>
> You get the outside for free pretty much. You don't have to
> move anything anywhere, just tie the rubble down, smelt your
> aluminium and sling up some big mirrors and put a sign outside
> 'home sweet home'.
>
> > Just a Thought,
> >
> > Bill
>

So, I take it you now agree that active shielding can be used to at least deal with cosmic rays and positively charged ions from the sun? By the way, we are talking about billions of volts, not millions since I believe that cosmic rays have an energy equivalent to 30 billion EV.

Now, lets proceed with dealing with those pesky electrons. Since they have a relatively low mass and can be compelled to turn at very sharp corners, we can use either an electric or magnetic field to divert them.

From a distance, a 1km diameter shell appears to be a point charge. Instead of charging the exterior of the colony with the high charge, lets charge instead a spherical wire grid surrounding the colony. Electrons are attracted to the positively charged grid and are neutralized or diverted, and positively charged nuclei are repelled. Only problem remains to maintain the charge and construction.

Cheers,

Tom

From:
bill t
To:
spacesettlers@egroups.com
Sent:
Saturday, December 23, 2000 2:18 PM
Subject:
[spacesettlers] Re: Active Sheilding
If you are a million volt positive charge, every electron in the
solarsystem will be attracted to you. When they hit the outer shell
they will have a million eV energy each. when a electron hits a metal
(the outer shell) it produces X-Rays. These X-Rays will be directed
towards the interior of the habitat. Thus you will have a constant
X-Ray source inside the habitat.
Finally, for every positive charged nuclei that gets thrown out of the
sun, there is at least one electron that has been dissaciated from it.
Bill
--- In spacesettlers@egroups.com, "Tom Tucker (Olympia)"
>
> From: Ian Woollard
> To: spacesettlers@egroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2000 8:57 PM
> Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Active Sheilding

>
> bill t wrote:
>
> > The main problem with Active Shielding...
>
> The main problem with active shielding is that it doesn't
work. Period.
>
> > You can arrange a magnetic field to deflect the electrons, but
I'm
> > wondering what the weight of the material, and the power
utilization
> > is. All the power is heat that has to be radiated away. This
means
> > more radiators.
>
> Radiators aren't a problem. The problem is that people die
> from radiation poisoning (10% chance of cancer per 5-10 years
> if I remember correctly), caused by cosmic rays. Active shielding
> doesn't touch cosmic rays- they're waaaay too high energy. We
> can't even produce rays that powerful in our particle
> accelerators that are miles across and use whole power
> stations to keep them running; active shielding
> has absolutely no chance of even deflecting it,
> and quite a lot of the particles aren't even charged
> anyway.
> Tom Tucker - Bill, cosmic rays are nuculi that have been stripped
of their electrons which makes them positively charged. Solar flares
are a storm of charged particles with the bulk also consisting of
ionized nuculi. Both of these types of deadly radiation can be
repelled by a positive high voltage charge. Since in space, there is
no place for a charge to arc or to drain from via ionization as there
is when in an atmosphere, one could perhaps build-up a charge of
billions of volts which is comparable to that of cosmic rays and in
excess of that found in solar flares. The positive charge would be
maintained/generated by the use of an electron gun/accelerator located
a few KM from the space craft on the end of a conductive tether. In
space, we can generate much higher voltages than we can on earth.
> Particle accelerators produce very heavy nuculi at hear the
velocitiy of light, but this is not relevant to the electrostatic
shielding under discussion here.
Proof of concept has yet to be attempted, but hypothetically, it
can be done.
>
> X-Rays from the sun and stars are a much smaller worry and some
light shielding would still be needed for these EMF for which active
shielding will be ineffective. How much would be needed? Need more
data. Perhaps the few CM of steel that a "cruise ship type habitat"
would use would be sufficient?