Water As Shielding

> There has been a discussion on the "Space Elevator" Yahoo Group
> recently about the use of water as a radiation shield for space
> habitats, and in conjuction with transparent solids, used for window
> material.
>
> Any thoughts here, or on shielding and windows in general?

Water's a great shielding material. You might even be able set things
up so that it provides for heat distribution as well as shielding.

Of course, this assumes a cheap and plentiful source of water at your
construction site; otherwise, you should use something cheaper and more
plentiful, like leftover slag from regolith processing. You need a LOT
of whatever you choose for shielding, and really any mass will do, so
whatever's cheapest is probably best.

In one colony design that's been evolving in my head, there is no
shielding outside the pressure vessel, since I want a couple meters of
soil inside anyway (for growing trees, planting flag poles, etc.), and
that serves as fine sheilding. Ponds would probably have to be lined
with some sort of shielding material on bottom, otherwise people might
get too many rads from diving. But I like to imagine one big lake,
perhaps around the equator, where the water is deep enough that this
isn't a major issue -- and the bottom of the lake is transparent,
allowing for a glimpse of the Earth, Moon, Sun, and stars through the
waves.

Probably wouldn't work in real life, as things growing in the lake will
quickly render its bottom no longer transparent. But it sure does make
for a pretty mental image.

Cheers,
- Joe

Joe Strout -- joe@...
Strout Custom Solutions, LLC