These orange bags are scattered around the International Space Station and use a device known as a dosimeter to collect information about radiation levels. The experiment has been monitoring the radiation values since 2009 and the current bags are changed after every six-month rotation of the crew. This bag was placed on the left side of the utility interface panel next to the vacuum connection in the ESA’s Human Research Facility in the ESA’s Columbus science laboratory. Photo credit: NASA
The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft reached the International Space Station just three hours after launch on October 14, 2020 with Roscosmos astronauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins on board.
Aside from the human cargo, the Soyuz had room for some scientific discovery, including one of ESA’s longest-running experiments, Dose-3D.
These orange bags are scattered around the ISS and use a device called a dosimeter to collect information about radiation levels. The experiment in various forms has been monitoring radiation levels since 2009 and the current bags are changed after every six-month rotation of the crew. This bag was placed on the left side of the utility interface panel next to the vacuum connection in the ESA’s Human Research Facility in the ESA’s Columbus science laboratory.
Radiation levels in space can be 15 times higher than on Earth. As soon as humans leave the protective shield of the earth’s atmosphere, space radiation becomes a serious problem. As we continue to explore and go towards the moon and even Mars On longer flights it is becoming more and more important to defend ourselves against radiation.
Dose-3D is helping researchers understand how space radiation penetrates the walls of the space station. Active and passive radiation detectors are used to map the radiation in all modules and help designers and engineers to make future spacecraft more radiation resistant, for example the modules for the lunar gateway.
Experiments like Dose-3D are often overlooked when passively sitting in the corner, but as we near the anniversary of 20 years of uninterrupted settlement on the International Space Station, they are great examples of the kind of science that is at the outpost of humanity Space takes place and helps prepare for the future of human exploration.
The orange dosimeters are about the size of a deck of cards and are attached to the walls of the space station with Velcro. The detectors record how much radiation was absorbed in total during their stay in space.
In addition to the passive detectors shown, Dose-3D uses active dosimeters that measure fluctuations in radiation levels over time. The data of all station partners are used jointly in order to create the most complete picture of space radiation possible.
