Space environment is hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts due to the various forms of radiation and charged particles emitted from solar flares. These events pose health risks to people and cause damage to electronics and other features of the spacecraft. The events are irregular in magnitude and frequency and thus a dynamic system is required to shield against it. STFC has developed such a system which uses an actively controlled magnetic field which effectively shields the spacecraft and people and instruments within, from charged particles of energies up to 50 MeV.
IMAGES