Deep space storm shelters and discrete event simulation

Abstract

Missions outside of Earth's magnetic field are impeded by the presence of radiation from galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events. To overcome this issue, NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Radiation Works Storm Shelter Team (RadWorks) has been testing different radiation protective habitats to shield against the onset of solar particle event radiation. These habitats have the capability of protecting occupants by utilizing logistics such as food, water, brine, human waste, trash, and non-consumables to build short-term shelters. Protection comes from building a barrier with the logistics that dampens the impact of the radiation on astronauts. The goal of this research is to develop a discrete event simulation, modeling a solar particle event and the building of a protective shelter. Two different locations, the main hallway and the crew quarters, within a larger habitat that is similar to the layout of the International Space Station (ISS) are modeled and compared. The outputs from this model will yield three results: 1) provide the team with information on the amount of protection the crew members receive based on the two structures, 2) provide the amount of time for setting up the habitat during specific points in a mission given an event occurs, 3) and determine the total areas covered on the shelter by the different logistics.