TRACK STRUCTURE MODEL FOR DAMAGE TO MAMMALIAN CELL CULTURES DURING SOLAR PROTON EVENTS

Authors

• Francis A. Cucinotta, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VAFollow
• J. W. Wilson, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
• L. W. Townsend, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
• J. L. Shinn, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
• Robert Katz, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

January 1992

Comments

Published in Nucl. Tracks Radiat. Meas., Vol. 20, No. 1 (1992), pp. 177-184 (formerly Int. J. Radiat. Appl. Instrum., Part D).

Abstract

Solar proton events (SPEs) occur infrequently and unpredictably, thus representing a potential hazard to interplanetary space missions. Biological damage from SPEs will be produced principally through secondary electron production in tissue, including important contributions due to delta rays from nuclear reaction products. We review methods for estimating the biological effectiveness of SPEs using a high energy proton model and the parametric cellular track model. Results of the model are presented for several of the historically largest flares using typical levels and body shielding.