Russia will be forced to limit the stay of cosmonauts on the prospective Russian Orbital Station (ROS) during manned flights due to radiation in the polar near-Earth orbit.
This was reported by TASS, citing a presentation by the General Designer of Russia for manned systems and complexes, General Designer of RSC Energia (part of Roscosmos State Corporation) Vladimir Solovyov at the general meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Currently, flights to the ISS are divided into visiting expeditions (several weeks) and long-term missions (up to a year or more). The record holders for mission duration are Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who spent almost 374 days in Earth orbit. Kononenko also became the world record holder for the total time spent in space: he accumulated 1111 days in space over five missions.
But it is unlikely that anyone will break these records on ROS. Solovyov believes that the duration of missions for an orbit with an inclination of 96.8 degrees must be limited to 11 months due to the radiation hazard to crews.
What's Wrong with the Polar Orbit of ROS
ROS will fly in a polar orbit with an inclination of up to 97 degrees. This will allow observation of all of Russia and the Northern Sea Route from the station, which is not possible today from the Russian segment of the ISS. Its orbit is inclined to the equatorial plane by only 51.6 degrees.
Solovyov notes that in an undisturbed radiation environment, the expected radiation doses in the polar orbit will not exceed the standards for radiation exposure to crew members. Currently, this is 500 millisieverts per year.
In the event of powerful solar flares, the radiation dose increases approximately 10 times compared to the ISS orbit. And even in the most unfavorable case, it will not exceed 100 millisieverts. This is only two-thirds of the regulatory value for a single acute radiation exposure. But it is also dangerous.
What is Currently Proposed for Radiation Protection of ROS
Firstly, the core and target modules of ROS will receive a protective layer of increased thickness using modern radiation protection materials.
Secondly, ROS will be a partially inhabited station that can temporarily exist in unmanned mode if necessary.
Finally, to fully study the radiation environment in the polar orbit, Russia will send the Bion-M No. 2 biosatellite there in March 2025. It will be inhabited: the crew will consist of laboratory mice, insects, and plants. The launch of the satellite was planned for 2024, but has been repeatedly postponed. The deployment of the new Russian station in orbit is scheduled to begin in 2027.
According to Solovyov, the use of various methods of working on ROS, taking into account the radiation environment, will help Russia form a biomedical reserve for future manned flights to the Moon, asteroids, and Mars, where radiation will be significantly higher than near Earth.
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