Spallation of International Space Station (ISS) body caused by the cosmic oxygen source

Document Type : Conference Paper

Authors

Department of Nuclear Engineering, Faculty of Sciences and Modern Technologies, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

The International Space Station (ISS) is constantly exposed to space radiation. Therefore, it is important to study the effects of radiation on the body. In this research, the spallation of the body of the Destiny module of the ISS by the cosmic oxygen source is simulated using the MCNP code in accordance with the Monte Carlo method. The abundance of oxygen in interstellar gas is commonly used as a metal detector in galaxies. For irregular galaxies, the amount of oxygen is related to the total mass of the galaxy, meaning that the higher the total mass, the higher the heavy element content. Spallation also refers to nuclear reactions that occur when high-energy particles interact with an atomic nucleus. The MCNP code is a Monte Carlo nanoparticle code that can be used to transmit neutrons, photons, electrons, and … . The body of the ISS space station is always under cosmic radiation. High-flux cosmic rays and particles can affect humans and space components. These effects can cause spallation and changing the  material or stopping charged particles and producing secondary radiation. Measuring the abundance of cosmic radionuclides with long half-lives in the atmosphere and terrestrial reserves is a very important tool for studying atmospheric processes and  the interactions between different reservoirs. The purpose of this study is to calculate the cosmic oxygen spring splitting using the MCNP code. The results of this study show that important radioisotopes such as ، ،، and   are produced by spallation of the space station body  with oxygen ions.

Keywords


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