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Space Station Crew Shelter From Radiation Generated By Magnetic Storms

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 January 2005, 18:00 CST

Excerpt from report by Russian news agency Interfax-AVN web site

Moscow, 19 January: The crew of the ISS [International Space Station], Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao, will shelter from the radiation of magnetic storms in sections of the station which are protected against its influence. Interfax has been informed of this by a member of the Institute of Biomedical Problems.

"Starting on Monday [17 January], our instruments aboard the ISS registered increased radiation and we have advised the cosmonauts to shelter in the most protected parts of the station. Radiation can have a strong impact on cosmonauts' health," the MCC [Mission Control Centre] specialist told Interfax.

He said the cosmonauts spent Monday night [17-18 January], when the magnetic storms began, in the most protected sections of the station - the American astronaut in the American segment, and the Russian cosmonaut in the Zvezda module of the Russian segment of the ISS.

On Tuesday the cosmonauts measured the level of the radiation with special, individual dosimeters, the MCC representative noted. However, this did not affect the work schedule in any way.

He said that on Tuesday night [18-19 January] the cosmonauts would again shelter in parts of the ISS that are most protected against radiation.

The source also told the agency that, according to ballistics experts, the magnetic storms have not affected the station's orbit at all.

The powerful magnetic storms, which began on Monday, are expected to continue on Tuesday night. [Passage omitted]

Source: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union

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