Apollo and the Van Allen Belts

an estimate of the radiation dose received

Robert A. Braeunig
September-2014

During the period 1968-1972, the United States sent nine manned missions, named Apollo, to the Moon. These missions remain the only flights in
history to send human beings beyond low Earth orbit. To reach the Moon, these spacec raft had to pass through regions of intense ionizing radiation
c alled the Van Allen radiation belts (VARB). The VARB are named after Americ an space sc ientist Dr. James A. Van Allen (1914-2006), who designed
the experiment that first detec ted them in 1958.
Bec ause radiation is a scary word to those who really don't know much about it, the VARB are often targeted by c onspirac y theorists who claim the
Apollo lunar missions were nothing but a c olossal hoax. They say the VARB are an impenetrable barrier deadly to any spacefarer who attempts to
traverse them. The truth is muc h different and more c omplex. Whether or not the VARB are impassable is a problem with a c alc ulable solution. In
this artic le I will endeavor to solve the radiation problem by producing an estimate of the radiation dose rec eived by the Apollo astronauts. Only
then can we see the truth in unc ertain terms.
This page is a companion to my previous article, Apollo 11's Translunar Trajec tory (and how they avoided the heart of the radiation belts), in which
I computed the trajec tories that the Apollo 11 mission flew to and from the Moon. This gives us knowledge of the exac t time and location of Apollo
11 within the VARB, allowing determination of the radiation levels to whic h the spac ecraft was subjec ted during its passage through this region.
Although Apollo 11 will be our test subjec t, it should be understood that all the Apollo missions flew similar trajec tories. We can therefore consider
Apollo 11 representative of all lunar flights.

Conspiracy Theories
Radiation is a favorite topic of many moon landing hoax theorists. No matter how badly they may lose the debate on other issues, they believe that
spac e radiation is the one thing that trumps all others. If it were impossible for spacefarers to survive the Van Allen radiation belts then Apollo was
hoaxed regardless of what all other evidenc e suggests. The argument typically goes like this:
Radiation is bad + There is radiation in spac e = Spac e is bad
That's generally all you'll get because that's all they know. It's no secret that space radiation exists, and we all know radiation c an cause death, so,
to the conspiracy theorist, the only c onclusion is that spac e is a maelstrom of deadly radiation that will fry any outbound astronaut. Unfortunately
this is a very simplistic and naive way of looking at the problem. Radiations vary dramatic ally in strength and intensity, with some being dangerous
and some being harmless background radiation. Whether or not a human will experience illness or death is related to the radiation dose received. It
is a problem with a very real answer that c an be determined quantitatively.
I have seen only one hoax proponent attempt to prove the radiation c laim mathematic ally, but his attempt was marred by many egregious errors
and omissions, leading to wildly inac curate numbers (see review here). It is fair to say that no c onspirac y theorist possesses the expertise to
c orrec tly solve the problem, for if he did, he would know better than to subscribe to the hoax theory. Absent the ability to perform a proper
quantitative solution, the c onspiracists are forced to look for circ umstantial evidence. T hey can generally do little more than point out what they
believe to be suspicious ac tivity or resort to quote mining.
Quote mining is the dec eitful tac tic of taking quotes out of context in order to make them seemingly agree with the quote miner's viewpoint. Below
is one such example. In this case I've provided the ac companying text that the conspirac ists are likely to omit, or at least draw your attention
away from. The bolded text is the part the conspirac ists highlight as being relevant to their argument.
"The suc cessful operation of the solar batteries and the transmitter of Vanguard I (Satellite 1958 Beta) for over two years (as of
the present date of writing) and the suc c essful operation of similar equipment in Sputnik III (Satellite 1958 Delta) over a similar
period provide the most direc t evidenc e for the survival of elec tronic equipment in spac e vehicles. The integrated radiation
exposures in these two c ases are still muc h below the level at whic h serious deterioration may be expec ted.
"But, though mechanic al and electronic equipment c an operate within the high radiation areas, a living organism cannot survive
this level of radiation damage. Hence, all manned space flight attempts must steer clear of these two belts of radiation
until adequate means of safeguarding the astronauts has been developed."
Dr. James Van Allen, Space World, Dec ember 1961.
The bolded part is portrayed by the c onspiracists as Dr. Van Allen agreeing with them that any venture into the VARB is lethal. However the c ontext
of that statement appears in the first paragraph, whic h the conspirac ists deceptively c onc eal. Here we see that Dr. Van Allen is spec ific ally
discussing two missions that where each over two years in duration. He writes "a living organism c annot survive this level of radiation damage",
where the 'level of radiation damage' is a referenc e to the integrated radiation exposures from the c ited 2-year long missions. He also writes about
"operat(ing) within the high radiation areas", whic h is in the context of extended missions, not rapid transits. Even then he doesn't say it is
impossible, only that "adequate means of safeguarding the astronauts" is required. Nothing in his statement precludes the possibility of rapid transits
through the region while on the way to or from the Moon.
Below is another quote highlighted by the conspirac ists:
"So far, the most interesting and least expec ted result of man's exploration of the immediate vic inity of the earth is the discovery
that our planet is ringed by a regionto be exac t, two regionsof high-energy radiation extending many thousands of miles into
spac e. This discovery is of course troubling to astronauts; somehow the human body will have to be shielded from this
radiation, even on a rapid transit through the region."
Dr. James Van Allen, Scientific Americ an, Marc h 1959.
Here Dr. Van Allen specific ally addresses rapid transits through the region, stating only that the human body will have be to be shielded. Also note
that the dates of these quotes are many years prior to the first lunar flight in 1968, giving designers adequate time to further study the problem
and devise solutions. In fact, Dr. Van Allen helped to design the Apollo lunar trajec tories, which were engineered spec ifically to lessen radiation
exposure. Despite the conspirac ists' insistenc e that Dr. Van Allen agrees with them, he has rejec ted the c laim that radiation exposure during the
Apollo missions would have been fatal to the astronauts, c alling it "nonsense".

This quote mining doesn't end with Dr. Van Allen. In rec ent years talk has ramped up about extended stay lunar missions and missions to Mars.
Many of these c onversations have addressed the severity of the radiation problem and how it must be solved before these missions c an be
undertaken. Of course these are just the kind of statements that a c onspiracy theorist will embrace and take out of c ontext to mean that Apollo
was impossible. There is a big difference between a 10-day mission to the Moon and a 2.5-year mission to Mars they are simply not c omparable in
terms of the radiation problem. The Apollo problem was solved decades ago, the Mars problem still needs some work.
When c onspiracy theorists aren't mining for quotes, they go about pointing out actions that they suggest indic ate evidenc e of wrongdoing. For
instanc e, they love to c all attention to the fac t that the United States is the only nation to have sent astronauts beyond low Earth orbit, and last
did so in 1972. The implic ation being that if it were possible to travel beyond the VARB, then surely somebody else would have done it by now. The
simple truth is that no one has had adequate motivation to c ommit the massive funds and resources nec essary to go back to the Moon or beyond.
However there are indications this attitude may be changing, for instanc e Chinese offic ials have indic ated they are interested in potential future
manned lunar missions.
Another hoax story that has c ropped up from time to time is the assertion that the strength and intensity of the VARB is far greater than published.
The conspirac ists claim that NASA has hidden the real data and replaced it with false data. If we could only get our hands on the real data, they
c laim, it would show that Apollo was impossible. This is a ludic rous proposition. First, NASA is not the sole proprietor of VARB knowledge other
spac efaring nations have also studied the VARB so for the assertion to be true it requires international c ooperation. And sec ond, space is a multibillion dollar industry that depends on the acc urac y of the VARB models. If the models were false, then billions of dollars of spac e hardware would be
failing due to under designed radiation protec tion. Instead we find that satellites perform in a manner c onsistence with the published data.
No other spac efaring nation has expresses doubts about the ability to traverse translunar spac e, and they all acknowledge that Apollo suc ceeded in
landing astronauts on the Moon. Furthermore, the United States is not the only nation to have sent living c reatures to the Moon. In September
1968 the Soviet Union's Zond 5 bec ame the first spacecraft to swing around the Moon and return to land on Earth. The mission was planned as a
prec ursor to a manned lunar spacec raft. It c arried a biologic al payload of two Russian tortoises, wine flies, meal worms, plants, seeds, bac teria, and
other living matter. T he biologic al payload was intact, proving that it was possible to survive a lunar flight and safely return to Earth. As a result of
Zond 5, and Zond 7 in 1969, the Soviet Union c onc luded that, "seven-day flights along the trajec tories of Zond-5 and 7 probes are safe from the
radiation point of view."
It seems the only people who doubt the ability of manned spacecraft to safely traverse the VARB are c onspirac y theorists.

Radiation Plan for Apollo

No one doubted that once humans ventured beyond Earth's atmosphere they would have to be provided with air and protected from the surrounding
vac uum. But no one doubted, either, that this could be done by straightforward extensions of existing tec hnology. Yet that last small c loak of air is
of vital importance to life on Earth. It shields us almost c ompletely from dangerous radiation, and from the inc essant downpour of meteors. There
were those who believed before 1957 that neither human nor vehicles could survive for long outside the protective blanket of the atmosphere.
But even the first satellites showed that the danger from meteorites had been grossly overestimated by the pessimists. And the danger from the
known c osmic radiations had been greatly exaggerated; with the possible exception of solar flares, the hazard they presented was almost negligible
to short duration spac e flight.
One of the most important discoveries made in spac e was reported by the very first Americ an satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. It was revealed that
several huge layers of radiation partic les are trapped by Earth's magnetic field, c alled the Van Allen radiations belts. This discovery came as a
c onsiderable shock as here was a previously unknown but very real peril, whic h made certain regions of space uninhabitable without a prohibitive
weight of shielding. However, it was soon realized that the VARB represented an obstac le to be bypassed, not a c omplete roadbloc k. By choosing
suitable orbits it was possible to avoid the most intense levels of radiation; and to outward-bound spacecraft the belts were no serious menac e
bec ause the vehic les passed through them swiftly.
Observations from the ground and from spacec raft demonstrated that the spac e radiation hazard was one of the lesser engineering problems to be
overc ome in Apollo spac ecraft design and mission planning. Flux maps of the Van Allen belts were developed, solar flare partic le events were
subjected to intensive statistical analyses, and tec hniques were developed to c alculate radiation doses behind c omplex spacec raft struc tures. Van
Allen belt radiation doses were kept small by use of low-altitude Earth orbits and rapid transits to the Moon along trajec tories with inc linations of
about 30 degrees. Only the very large (and c onsequently very rare) solar flare partic le events c onstituted a hazard for moderately shielded
spac ecraft. Also, sec ondary radiation was not significant for such spac ecraft.
Most of Apollo's radiation protection activity was direc ted towards providing protec tion against major solar flare particle events that might occ ur
while astronauts were in the lunar module or on the lunar surfac e. The events, whic h start at the sun, were detec ted by ground-based
instrumentation and were measured at the spac ec raft by dosimeters and partic le spec trometers. A prognosis of the radiation dose was prepared
and c ontinually updated by radiation environment spec ialists using a c onsole in the Mission Control Center (MCC). Dose estimates were then
provided for the use of the medic al officer, who advised the Flight Director of the radiation effec ts to be expected.
The Solar Partic le Alert Network (SPAN) was established to support the Apollo program. T he network has seven stations around the world, situated
so as to provide 24-hour c overage of the Sun at both optic al (weather permitting) and microwave frequencies. There were three stations equipped
with both optic al and radio telescopes, namely, Houston, Texas, Carnarvon, Australia, and the Canary Islands. There were four additional sites
equipped with optic al telescopes only. SPAN's function was to monitor solar ac tivity during the missions and provide warnings of particle events.
Time of oc currenc e, area, and location of the flare were determined by SPAN observers and were teletyped to the MCC where the data were
inc orporated into the estimate of the partic le event size. The radio burst profile was also teletyped to the MCC. Data from SPAN were augmented
by data from the solar and ionospheric monitoring systems operated by the Environmental Sc ienc e Services Administration and the Air Weather
Service.
If SPAN detec ted that a large solar flare was imminent, there was a few hours' advanc e notic e of the partic le flux. This was adequate time for the
astronauts on the Moon to get back to the LM, take off, rendezvous with the CSM, and take c over as best they c ould. While in lunar orbit, the
Moon would protec t the astronauts for half of each orbit. At other times the spac ec raft would be turned so the bulk of the service module was
between the astronauts and the incoming partic les. The astronauts had a handheld Geiger c ounter so they c ould find the safest spot in the
c ommand module c abin should they have to ride out a solar flare.
During Apollo's operational period of 1969 to 1972, there were only three solar events that had a biological signific anc e, none of which occ urred
during a mission. Only one event, in August 1972, was large enough to have caused severe illness.

Radiation Basics
Radiation may be defined as energy in transit in the form of high- speed partic les and elec tromagnetic waves. Elec tromagnetic radiation is very
c ommon in our everyday lives in the form visible light, radio and television waves, and mic rowaves. Radiation is divided into two c ategories ionizing
radiation and non-ionizing radiation.
Ionizing radiation is radiation with sufficient energy to remove electrons from the orbits of atoms resulting in c harged particles, and it is this type
of radiation that is evaluated for purposes of radiation protec tion. Examples of ionizing radiation include gamma rays, elec trons, protons, and
neutrons. Ionizing radiation is different from ion formation that oc c urs in ordinary c hemic al reactions, such as the generation of table salt from

neutrons. Ionizing radiation is different from ion formation that oc c urs in ordinary c hemic al reactions, such as the generation of table salt from
sodium and chlorine. In suc h a reaction, only the outermost electron is removed to form a positively charged ion. With ionizing radiation, if the
energy is suffic ient, electrons other than those in the outermost orbits c an be released; this proc ess renders the atom very unstable, and these
ions are very c hemic ally reac tive. It is the subsequent reactions of these ionized atoms that initiate the biologic al effec ts that are observed.
Non-ionizing radiation is radiation without sufficient energy to remove electrons from their orbits. Examples are mic rowaves, radio waves, and
visible light.
Spac e radiation consists primarily of ionizing radiation that exists in the form of high-energy, charged partic les; princ ipally elec trons, protons, and
some heavier atomic nuclei c ommonly called partic ulate radiations. There are three naturally oc curring sources of spac e radiation: trapped
radiation, galac tic cosmic radiation, and solar partic le events.
These particles when moving at high speed (i.e. when of high energy) can pass through matter. The depth of penetration depends on their speed
and c harge the higher the charge the smaller the penetration. The energy of these radiations is expressed in a spec ial unit known as the electronvolt (eV) and the multiples 1,000 eV = 1 keV; 1,000 keV = 1 MeV. One electron-volt corresponds to 1.6010-19 joules.
Sinc e matter is made up of positively c harged atomic nuc lei and negatively charged elec trons, it is clear that the elec tric ally charged partic les must
interac t with the atoms in the molecules that surround their path. It is very rare for heavy partic les, suc h as protons or alpha partic les, to hit an
atomic nuc leus or for electrons to collide with the orbital electrons. When such a c ollision has occ urred the partic les involved change direc tion.
Except when scattered in this way the subatomic partic les move through matter in straight lines. However, even when they do not c ome into
physic al c ontac t with atoms they are c ontinually slowed down by the local elec tric c harges of the atoms, rather as air resistance will slow down a
bullet. Bec ause of the electric al interac tions with the atoms through whic h they pass they lose energy until they c an penetrate no further. At the
very end of their tracks the path of the particles is no longer linear, since sc attering oc curs more readily when they move relatively slowly. The
energy that the ionizing partic les lose is taken up by the surrounding atoms, and some of the molec ules of which they are part bec ome c hemic ally
c hanged. When a person is exposed to the radiation, it is this radioc hemical process that is responsible for the biologic al effects produc ed. Only a
part of the energy lost in this way is used for produc ing suc h chemical changes. Muc h of the energy is dissipated as heat, though this does not
bring about any of the observed biologic al c hanges, sinc e a radiation dose suffic ient to kill a mammal would raise its temperature by less than 1/100
of a degree.
Particulate radiations rarely exc eed a few MeV, and therefore cannot penetrate very deeply into the body. Exposure to such radiations is therefore
only likely to produc e skin burns that are usually not serious except when the doses are very high. X-rays, gamma rays, and neutrons are muc h
more penetrating. On exposure to these radiations the affec ted parts are not c onfined to the skin, but every part of the body will be irradiated.
Under these c onditions muc h smaller doses of radiation are dangerous.
The dose is the amount of energy that has been left in the irradiated material and is direc tly related to the amount of c hemic al alteration produc ed.
It is typic ally given in units of rads or "radiation absorbed dose" for a particular material, defined as 1 rad = 0.01 J/kg. The SI unit of absorbed dose
is the gray (Gy), where 1 Gy = 100 rad.
Different types of radiation have different biological effec tiveness mainly because they transfer their energy to the tissue in different ways. The
equivalent dose is c alculated by multiplying the absorbed dose by a radiation weighting fac tor (WR ) appropriate to the type and energy of radiation.
The unit of equivalent dose is the rem, derived from the phrase "Roentgen equivalent man". The rem is now defined as the dosage in rads that will
c ause the same amount of biologic al injury as one rad of x-rays or gamma rays. For x-rays, gamma rays, and electrons, WR = 1, and for protons WR
= 2. The SI unit of equivalent dose is the sievert (Sv), where 1 Sv = 100 rem.

In addition to the energy and c omposition of a partic ular partic le, it is also nec essary to describe how many of them there are. This is usually done
in terms of flux, and when speaking in terms of a time interval, fluenc e. Flux is defined as the flow rate of particles per unit area, whic h has the
dimensions [partic les][time]-1[area]-2. Fluenc e is the flux integrated over time, which is defined as the total number of partic les that intersect a
unit area in a spec ific time interval of interest, and has the units [partic les][area] -2.

AE-8/AP-8 Radiation Belt Models

The Van Allen radiation belts are a torus (doughnut shape) of energetic charged partic les c ircling Earth around its magnetic equator and held in
place by Earth's magnetic field. The main belts extend from an altitude of about 1,000 to 60,000 kilometers above the surface in whic h region
radiation levels vary. Most of the particles that form the belts are thought to come from solar wind and other particles by c osmic rays. The belts
are located in the inner region of the Earth's magnetosphere. The belts c ontain energetic elec trons that form the outer belt and a c ombination of
protons and elec trons that form the inner belt. The radiation belts additionally c ontain lesser amounts of other nuclei, such as alpha particles.

Figure 1 - Van Allen radiation belts

The description of the radiation environment requires a knowledge of the particle flux as a function of energy, spec ies, loc ation in spac e, and time.
The AE-8 and AP-8 models c onsist of maps that c ontain omnidirec tional, integral elec tron (AE maps) and proton (AP maps) fluxes in the energy
range 0.04 MeV to 7 MeV for elec trons and 0.1 MeV to 400 MeV for protons in the Earth's radiation belt. The fluxes are stored as functions of
energy, L-value, and B/B0. The maps are based on data from more than twenty satellites from the early 1960s to the mid- 1970s. AE- 8 and AP-8 are
the latest editions in a series of updates starting with AE-1 and AP-1 in 1966.

Figure 2 Graphic al representation of R, and B, L coordinates

Earth's magnetic field is the magnetic field that extends from the Earth's interior to where it meets the solar wind. Roughly speaking it is the field of
a magnetic dipole currently tilted at an angle of about 10 degrees with respect to Earth's rotational axis, as if there were a bar magnet placed at
that angle at the center of the Earth. A dipole line of force is defined by the equation,
R = L cos2

(1)

where R is the radial distanc e from the dipole (i.e. from the c enter of Earth), is the magnetic latitude, and L is the maximum value of R, whic h is
found at = 0o , the equator. The units of R and L are Earth radii.
B is the magnitude of the magnetic field, with B0 being the value of B at = 0o . The value of B0 is given by the equation,
B0 = M / L3

(2)

where M is the dipole magnetic moment, which, for Earth, equals 0.311653 gauss. The magnetic field strength B is a func tion of B0 and , as
follows:
B = B0 (4 3 cos2 )1/2 / c os 6

(3)

After c omputing the values of L and B/B0, the web page AE- 8/AP-8 Radiation Belt Models, from the Community Coordination Modeling Center

(CCMC), enables the c omputation of omnidirectional integral or differential elec tron and proton fluxes for spec ific energies. Electron and proton
fluxes are available for solar maximum and solar minimum conditions.
From my previous work Apollo 11's Translunar Trajec tory* the values of R and are known, from whic h it is a simple proc edure to obtain L and
B/B0 using equations (1) and (3). Since Apollo 11 oc curred near the time of solar maximum, we'll use the AE8MAX and AP8MAX models to obtain the
integral particle fluxes. Gathering the flux data involves the simple but tedious process of entering all the coordinates and partic le energies into the
web interface and transferring the output to a spreadsheet for further analysis. There is no need to show all the data in this artic le. An abridged
version is shown below, which inc ludes elec tron fluxes for the first 30 minutes of flight following translunar injec tion (TLI). This is enough data to
allow demonstration of the proc edures used in this analysis. The actual analysis used matrices that c ontained a total of over 8,000 flux values.
(* Note that the same computation methods were used to also derive the transearth trajectory.)
For any prac tic al purpose, no one c omputes the B-L c oordinates by hand or uses the CCMC web interface as I have. The practic al way is to use
c omputer programs from the National Spac e Scienc e Data Center (NSSDC) that automate c onverting from geodetic c oordinates or orbital elements
to B-L c oordinates, and further automate stuffing long sequenc es of B-L c oordinates into the AE-8/AP-8 models. I elected to use the tedious
manual method to demonstrate the proc edure and make my work more transparent.

Table 1
Apollo 11 Translunar Phase
Elapsed
Time*
R
(min) (radii)

AE8MAX Electron Flux (e-/cm2-s)

Coordinates

(deg.)

L
(radii)

B/B0

0.1 MeV 0.5 MeV

1 MeV

2 MeV

3 MeV

4 MeV

5 MeV

6 MeV

7 MeV

1.05352 8.8090 1.07882 1.11092 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

1.06893 12.3280 1.11999 1.22637 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

1.08878 15.6666 1.17442 1.38551 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

1.11275 18.7966 1.24166 1.59107 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

1.14049 21.6964 1.32103 1.84536 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

1.17162 24.3541 1.41168 2.14962 3.931E+03 9.206E+01 1.560E+01 2.296E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

1.20578 26.7659 1.51254 2.50334 2.342E+06 4.738E+04 6.804E+03 1.308E+03 8.369E+01 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

1.24260 28.9349 1.62236 2.90373 6.452E+06 1.159E+05 9.227E+03 1.393E+03 7.225E+01 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

1.28176 30.8695 1.73976 3.34539 1.106E+07 1.847E+05 6.917E+03 7.051E+02 3.312E+01 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

1.32294 32.5817 1.86325 3.82043 1.212E+07 1.951E+05 3.245E+03 1.911E+02 8.691E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

10

1.36585 34.0864 1.99132 4.31882 1.333E+07 1.765E+05 1.831E+03 7.636E+01 2.647E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

11

1.41026 35.3995 2.12248 4.82912 1.167E+07 1.094E+05 1.042E+03 3.566E+01 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

12

1.45593 36.5378 2.25532 5.33932 7.511E+06 7.681E+04 7.928E+02 2.270E+01 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

13

1.50267 37.5179 2.38857 5.83768 2.368E+06 5.436E+04 7.486E+02 1.732E+01 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

14

1.55030 38.3558 2.52112 6.31360 2.248E+06 6.031E+04 2.131E+03 2.586E+02 9.491E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

15

1.59868 39.0668 2.65202 6.75809 2.476E+06 7.977E+04 7.268E+03 1.391E+03 1.349E+02 4.868E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

16

1.64767 39.6651 2.78052 7.16422 2.085E+06 1.107E+05 2.266E+04 4.065E+03 6.064E+02 6.910E+01 4.423E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

17

1.69715 40.1636 2.90603 7.52720 1.455E+06 1.848E+05 5.967E+04 1.194E+04 2.320E+03 3.894E+02 4.417E+01 2.726E+00 0.000E+00

18

1.74703 40.5743 3.02813 7.84429 2.354E+06 3.270E+05 1.181E+05 2.452E+04 4.842E+03 8.811E+02 1.675E+02 2.012E+01 0.000E+00

19

1.79723 40.9079 3.14654 8.11462 4.345E+06 6.509E+05 2.374E+05 5.352E+04 1.099E+04 2.136E+03 3.641E+02 2.803E+01 0.000E+00

20

1.84767 41.1739 3.26110 8.33885 6.204E+06 9.794E+05 3.610E+05 8.457E+04 1.798E+04 3.413E+03 4.706E+02 2.728E+01 0.000E+00

21

1.89829 41.3809 3.37175 8.51886 7.248E+06 1.186E+06 4.427E+05 1.044E+05 2.295E+04 4.016E+03 4.177E+02 2.046E+01 0.000E+00

22

1.94903 41.5364 3.47852 8.65742 8.218E+06 1.411E+06 5.170E+05 1.262E+05 2.848E+04 4.293E+03 3.578E+02 1.482E+01 0.000E+00

23

1.99984 41.6472 3.58148 8.75784 9.220E+06 1.618E+06 5.960E+05 1.466E+05 3.146E+04 4.326E+03 3.129E+02 1.078E+01 0.000E+00

24

2.05069 41.7190 3.68075 8.82380 9.884E+06 1.804E+06 6.667E+05 1.590E+05 3.239E+04 4.063E+03 2.685E+02 8.376E+00 0.000E+00

25

2.10153 41.7571 3.77649 8.85905 1.048E+07 1.995E+06 7.381E+05 1.700E+05 3.307E+04 3.786E+03 2.316E+02 6.718E+00 0.000E+00

26

2.15235 41.7661 3.86888 8.86733 1.116E+07 2.203E+06 8.011E+05 1.792E+05 3.202E+04 3.533E+03 2.031E+02 4.836E+00 0.000E+00

27

2.20311 41.7498 3.95811 8.85223 1.189E+07 2.427E+06 8.623E+05 1.879E+05 3.055E+04 3.310E+03 1.801E+02 3.409E+00 0.000E+00

28

2.25378 41.7117 4.04436 8.81709 1.256E+07 2.611E+06 9.260E+05 1.887E+05 2.929E+04 3.098E+03 1.590E+02 2.524E+00 0.000E+00

29

2.30436 41.6550 4.12783 8.76498 1.314E+07 2.751E+06 9.924E+05 1.821E+05 2.821E+04 2.895E+03 1.398E+02 1.839E+00 0.000E+00

30

2.35482 41.5822 4.20871 8.69871 1.373E+07 2.894E+06 1.057E+06 1.763E+05 2.715E+04 2.715E+03 1.235E+02 1.322E+00 0.000E+00
* Elapsed time is measured from translunar injec tion. In mission time, T 0 = GET 002:50:13.03.

Computing the Unprotected Dose

Now that we have the particle fluxes we can proc eed to compute the radiation dose. In this artic le I will demonstrate the method by performing a
small number of sample c omputations. The ac tual c omputations are quite voluminous and are performed using an Exc el spreadsheet.
Let's first take a look at the trajec tories. Figures 2 and 3 below show the path of Apollo 11 in relation to the VARB. The blue line represents the
spac ecraft's path and the red dots indicate 10-minute intervals of time. The red and orange areas are the most powerful regions of the VARB, and
the violet and blue areas are the least powerful. You c an see that the trajec tories were designed to bypass the VARB to the greatest extent
possible. Please note that Figures 2 and 3 show the path of Apollo 11 as a simple plot of distance above or below the magnetic equator versus
distanc e from Earth. The figures are not meant to depic t the ac tual shape or appearance of the orbits (as Apollo 11 moved away or toward Earth it
was also swinging around the planet).

Figure 3 - Apollo 11's outbound trajec tory (translunar)

Figure 4 - Apollo 11's inbound trajec tory (transearth)

Before c onsidering the spac ec raft shielding, let's first c ompute the dose that an exposed and unprotected astronaut would receive if he were to
follow the Apollo 11 trajectories through the VARB.
Computing Particle Flux

Figure 5
The data in T able 1 can be broken down into a group of bloc ks (see Figure 5), eac h bounded by T 1, T 2, E1 and E2, where T is time and E is particle

energy. At the intersec tions we have the integral fluxes F1(1), F2(1), F 1(2) and F2(2). We must compute the energy fluenc e, , for each block, which
we do as follows:

We first calc ulate the particle fluxes at times T 1 and T 2 for partic les with energies between E1 and E2. The fluxes c omputed by the AE-8/AP- 8

model, and as shown in Table 1, are for a given energy and greater. Therefore, if we want the flux, , for particles between E1 and E2, we subtrac t
the integral flux at E1 from the integral flux at E2.
(4)

= F1 F2

Computing Average Particle Energy

Next we calc ulate the average energy for particles between E1 and E2 at times T 1 and T 2. Since the particle flux inc reases exponentially with
dec reasing energy, we cannot use a simple average. Figure 6 below is a typic al flux versus energy diagram.

Figure 6
The average energy of the partic les between E1 and E2 c an be closely approximated using the following:
(5)*

Eavg = E1 + B (E2 E1)

where,
B = 0.029 A2 0.205 A + 0.5
A = log(F1 / F2 )

(* R. A. Braeunig. Derived by c omputing Eavg, via integration, for sample values of F1 and F 2; produc ing a plot of B versus A; and fitting a c urve to
the resulting data.)

Computing Energy Flux and Fluence

We now c alculate the energy flux, (lower c ase), for times T 1 and T 2.
(6)

= Eavg

Next we calc ulate the energy fluenc e, (upper c ase), for the bloc k bounded by T 1, T 2, E1 and E2.
(7)

= (T 2 T 1) (1 + 2) / 2

Before going further, let's demonstrate what we've learned to this point by computing the energy fluence for elec trons between the energies of 1
and 2 MeV and for the time interval of 20 to 21 minutes. From Table 1, the integral fluxes are,
F 1(1 ) = 3.610E+05 e - /cm2-s
F 2(1 ) = 8.457E+04 e - /cm2-s
F 1(2 ) = 4.427E+05 e - /cm2-s
F 2(2 ) = 1.044E+05 e - /cm2-s
The fluxes for 1-2 MeV elec trons are,
1 = 3.610E+05 8.457E+04 = 2.764E+05 e -/cm2 -s
2 = 4.427E+05 1.044E+05 = 3.383E+05 e -/cm2 -s
The average elec tron energies are,
A1 = log(3.610E+05 / 8.457E+04) = 0.63029

B1 = 0.029 0.630292 0.205 0.63029 + 0.5 = 0.3823

Eavg1 = 1 + 0.3823 (2 1) = 1.3823 MeV

A2 = log(4.427E+05 / 1.044E+04) = 0.62741

B2 = 0.029 0.630292 0.205 0.63029 + 0.5 = 0.3828

Eavg2 = 1 + 0.3823 (2 1) = 1.3828 MeV
The energy fluxes are,
1 = 2.764E+05 1.3823 = 3.821E+05 MeV/c m2- s
2 = 3.383E+05 1.3828 = 4.678E+05 MeV/c m2- s
Finally, the energy fluenc e for our selec ted block is,
= (1260 1200 s) (3.821E+05 + 4.678E+05) / 2 = 2.550E+07 MeV/cm2

Our next step is to compute the total energy fluence, whic h is found by summing for all the individual bloc ks, i.e. total = n . Since this
involves thousands of c omputations, I c an only report the results. T able 2 below gives the elec tron and proton energy fluenc es for both the
outbound and inbound transits of the Van Allen radiation belts.
Table 2
Energy Fluence,
(MeV/cm2)

Elapsed
Time
(min)

Mission Phase

Electrons

Protons

Outbound VARB Transit

214

2.358E+10

7.848E+09

Inbound VARB Transit

140

4.913E+09

1.472E+09

Computing the Unprotected Dose

The absorbed dose, D, is c alculated from the equation,
(8)

D= A /m

where D is in units of grays (Gy), is in units if J/c m2 (where 1 MeV = 1.6021765710-13 J), and A and m are the surfac e area (c m2) and mass
(kg) of the body absorbing the dose.
Sinc e the flux is omnidirec tional, A must equal the body's total surfac e area. For an adult human the total surface area is about 1.8 m2 . The
average mass of the Apollo 11 crew varied from about 76 kg at launch to about 74 kg at rec overy. To demonstrate the method, below is the dose
c alculation for elec trons on the outbound trip.
D = (2.358E+10 1.60217657E-13) (1.8 1002) / 76 = 0.8948 Gy
The absorbed doses are summarized in Table 3. Sinc e the gray wasn't adopted as part of the SI system of units until 1975, Apollo literature uses
the older unit of rads, where 1 rad = 0.01 Gy.
Table 3
Absorbed Dose, D (rads)

Mission Phase

Electrons

Protons

Outbound VARB Transit

89.48

29.78

Inbound VARB Transit

19.15

5.74

The final step is to convert the absorbed dose to equivalent dose, H, by multiplying by a quality factor appropriate to the type of radiation.
(9)

H = D WR
where WR = 1 for elec trons, 2 for protons

The final doses are summarized in Table 4 below. Note that the total dose is about 180 rem. A person will experienc e radiation sic kness with a dose
of 100-200 rem, and death with a dose of 300+ rem. Clearly the calc ulated dose is signific ant enough to c ause serious illness, but it is below that
typic ally regarded as c ausing death. We see, therefore, that even a completely exposed and unprotected astronaut, i.e. one naked and outside the
spac ecraft, c ould survive Apollo 11's trip through the VARB from the radiation point of view.
Table 4
Mission Phase

Equivalent Dose, H (rem)

Electrons

Protons

Total

Outbound VARB Transit

89.48

59.56

149.04

Inbound VARB Transit

19.15

11.48

30.63

Total

108.63

71.04

179.67

Unprotected DoseConcluding Remarks

Figures 2 and 3 show Apollo 11 traversing the region of the VARB in about 90 and 60 minutes respec tively, while Table 2 shows the elapsed times to
c omplete the transits as 214 and 140 minutes. Figures 2 and 3 show only the most intense part of VARB, whic h ac count for about 90% of the total
dose. T he longer durations are that needed to reac h the far outer edge of the belts, whic h extends out to about 9.5 radii. The fluxes in the
extended region are low and c ontribute only about 10% of the dose.
We can see from Tables 2, 3 and 4 that the dose rec eived from the outbound transit is about five times greater than the inbound transit. This is
bec ause the return trajec tory had a higher orbital inc lination, 39.925 o , than the outbound trajectory, 31.383o . Taking into ac count the additional
11o (1969) tilt of the geomagnetic axis and we find that the maximum magnetic latitude for the inbound trip was about 51o versus about 42o for the
outbound trip. This is signific ant bec ause the return trajectory was further out toward the less intense and less expansive edges of the VARB,
resulting in the muc h lower dose.
Had Apollo 11's orbit been in the plane of, rather than inc lined to, the geomagnetic equator, then the unshielded dose would have exceeded 3200
rem for each transit. We see, therefore, that the selec ted trajec tories reduced the potential worst exposure by 95% and 99% respec tively for the
outbound and inbound transits.
While most partic les would be stopped inside the human body, the most energetic protons (>100 MeV) will pass c lean through the body. These
high-energy partic les will deposit only a fraction of their energy in the tissue through whic h they pass. This has been ignored above; the

c omputations assume that 100% of the partic le energy is deposited. Thus the real doses would be slightly lower than calc ulated.

Spacecraft Shielding
Computing the dose received by an unshielded astronaut is interesting in that it provides a worst c ase scenario, but otherwise it has little practic al
meaning. To know an astronaut's ac tual exposure we must c onsider the amount and type of shielding that lies between him and outer spac e.
The part of the Apollo spac ecraft inhabited by the astronauts during their passage through the VARB was c alled the c ommand module (CM). The
c ommand module hull, whic h c ompletely surrounded the astronauts, provided the first layer of radiation shielding. Referring to Figure 7 we see that
the hull was a multi-layered composite c onsisting of both metallic and non-metallic components.

From Virtual Apollo, Apogee Books, Scott P. Sullivan.

Figure 7
The command module is generally quoted as having a shielding rating of 7 to 8 g/c m2. Let's see if we c an c ompute for ourselves the area density of
the hull.
The heat shield c onsisted of an epoxy novalac resin injec ted into the c ells of a fiberglass-phenolic honeycomb matrix. The produc t is commercially
known by the name AVCOAT 5026-39-HCG. The resin is very light, having a density of only 32 lb/ft3 (0.51 g/cm3), while glass-phenolic typically has
a density of about 1.8 g/c m3. Let's say we have a composite density of 0.7 g/c m3. The thickness of the heat shield varied from 0.75 to 2.75
inc hes, with the least thickness on the sides and the greatest thic kness on the base. I estimate an average thickness of about 1.3 inc hes (3.3 c m).
Behind the heat shield was a struc tural shell consisting of stainless steel honeyc omb sandwiched between two stainless steel fac e sheets. These
face sheets each had a thickness of 0.075 inc hes (1.90 mm). Inside this outer hull was an aluminum pressure hull, c onsisting of an aluminum
honeyc omb sandwic hed between aluminum fac e sheets. These fac e sheets varied in thickness between 0.035" and 0.065", so let's c all it 0.050
inc hes (1.27 mm) per sheet. The densities of stainless steel and aluminum are 8 g/cm3 and 2.7 g/c m3 respec tively.
Adding up what we have so far gives us an area density of,
A = (3.3 0.7) + (0.38 8) + (0.254 2.7) = 6.04 g/c m2
To this we must add the stainless steel honeyc omb, aluminum honeycomb, fibrous insulation, and misc ellaneous other materials. The mass of these
additional items is not muc h, but we can expect to get up to a total area density of about 7 g/c m2.
To c onfirm this result we can use an alternative method to compute the area density. We know the mass of the c ommand module heat shield was
848 kg, the mass of the spac ec raft structure was 1,567 kg, and the total exterior surfac e area was 36 m2. Computing the area density is a simple
matter of dividing the mass by the area. We therefore have,
A = ((848 + 1567) 1000) / (36 1002) = 6.71 g/cm2
This should include the honeycomb, so we need only to add for the insulation and miscellaneous materials. Again we get up to a total area density
of about 7 g/cm2, confirming our previous estimate.

This is, or course, an average the area density will be greater in some areas and less in others. A rough estimate gives a variation of about 5 to
10 g/cm2 between the thinnest and thickest parts of the hull. Sinc e the radiation flux is omnidirectional, using the average area density should give
a good integrated solution to the radiation problem.

Figure 8 Apollo command module

It must also be noted that, bec ause of the shape of the spacecraft, the path that most particles must take to reach that astronauts requires them
to strike the hull at an inc ident angle, whic h effec tively inc reases the shielding thic kness. For instanc e, if a partic le strikes the hull at an angle of
inc idence of 30o , the effec tive area density is inc reased by a fac tor of, 1/c os(30o ) = 1.155. This can explain why the doc umented shielding rating
(7 to 8 g/c m2) is higher than our c omputed value.
Furthermore, we must c onsider that the hull was only the primary radiation shield, i.e. the first line of defense. There was a c onsiderable amount of
secondary shielding loc ated between the hull and the astronauts in the form of equipment, instrument displays, propellant tanks, etc. In fact, the
entire mass of the command module was distributed around the astronauts forming a shell between them and outer spac e. The c ommand module
had a total mass of about 5,800 kg, thus it provided both primary and secondary shielding with an overall mean area density of,
A = (5800 1000) / (36 1002 ) = 16 g/c m2
Note also that attached to the aft end of the CM was the servic e module (SM), whic h provided many tons of additional shielding covering about
1/3 of the CM's exterior. We see, therefore, that the Apollo spac ec raft afforded the astronauts a c onsiderable amount of protection from spac e
radiation. Based on the numbers above, our best estimates of the command module's shielding is summarized in Table 5.
Table 5
Shielding Material
Spac ec raft Hull:

Area Density
(g/cm2)

----

Heat shield

2.36

Stainless steel

3.50

Aluminum

0.85

Other
Total hull
Secondary shielding

0.3
7
9

Computing the Shielded Dose

It is now time to figure out how much of the surrounding spac e radiation can penetrate the spac ec raft's shielding. We'll first analyze elec trons, then
protons, and then something we haven't talked about yetsecondary radiation, or bremsstrahlung.
Electrons
The maximum range, R, that an elec tron c an penetrate in a material can be c omputed from an empirical formula (given by L. Katz and A. S.
Penfold),
(10a)

R = 0.412 E1.265

0.0954 ln(E)

where 0.01 E 2.5 MeV

(10b)

R = 0.530 E 0.106
where E > 2.5 MeV

where R is in g/cm2 and is material independent, and E is the maximum electron energy in MeV. The ability to stop elec trons depends primarily on
the number of electrons in the absorber. Hence, the range when expressed as a density thic kness of the material gives a generic quantifier by
whic h various absorbers can be c ompared. With the maximum range known, the actual shielding thickness required can be c omputed,
(11)

t =R /

where t is the material thickness and is the material density.

From Table 1 we see that the integral flux for elec trons greater than or equal to 7 MeV is rec orded as zero. This means that electrons 7 MeV are
present in insignificantly small numbers and c an be ignored. Although Table 7 is only a partial list, this situation holds true for the entire flight of
Apollo 11. Since we know all of our elec trons are <7 MeV, this establishes an upper limit. Let's c ompute the maximum range of a 7 MeV elec tron
using equation (10b),
Rmax = 0.530 7 0.106 = 3.604 g/c m2
This density thic kness is c onsiderably less than even the thinnest part of the command module hull. Therefore all electrons will be absorbed by the
shielding with none penetrating through to the habitable interior. The radiation dose from electrons goes to zero.
Electrons will, however, produce secondary radiation, whic h we'll get to later.
Protons
Table 6 below gives the penetration range of high-energy protons in aluminum. The units are mg/c m2, so divide by 1000 to get g/c m2. We c an see
that, at the same energy, protons are far less penetrating than elec trons. However, while our most energetic elec trons are <7 MeV, the VARB are
home to protons with energies 400 MeV. Fortunately the fluxes of these very high-energy partic les are low.
Table 6

The range depends on the type of material. The value of R is higher than aluminum in stainless steel, and less than aluminum in the heat shield and
insulation. When these materials are layered, they combine to produce approximately the same value of R as aluminum alone. We can therefore use
aluminum as an analog for the multi-material composite hull.
We can see from Table 6 that protons with energies 100 MeV have sufficient energy to penetrate the hull, though many of these will likely be
absorbed by the secondary shielding. The data also reveals that as a proton's energy doubles, its range inc reases by a fac tor of about 3.4. Henc e,
a 200 MeV proton will have a range of about 34 g/c m2, whic h is enough to pass completely through the spacec raft. It appears that 100 MeV is a
logic al transition, where we assume protons <100 MeV are absorbed by the shielding, and protons 100 MeV penetrate through to the c rew cabin.
The working assumption, therefore, is that we have 9.854 g/c m2 of shielding, i.e. exac tly the value of R for a 100 MeV proton. Although this is a
greater rating than the hull alone, it's a c onservative assumption since we're ignoring most of the sec ondary shielding.
Although these high- energy protons will penetrate the shielding, they will lose some of their energy while doing so. For example, our assumption that
a 100 MeV proton has just enough energy to penetrate the shielding means it will have effectively no energy remaining afterward, while a proton
>100 MeV will retain some or most of its energy. We need a method to determine how muc h of a proton's energy remains after passing through the
shielding.

Figure 9
Figure 9 shows the magnitude of a partic le's energy loss relative to its range. The retarding force that c auses a partic le to loss energy is called
stopping power. The forc e usually inc reases toward the end of the range and reac hes a maximum, the Bragg peak, shortly before the energy drops
to zero. The c urve that describes the forc e as func tion of the material depth is called the Bragg c urve. The stopping power of the material is
numeric ally equal to the loss of energy E per unit path length, x.
(12)

S = dE / dx

The equation above defines the linear stopping power, whic h is in units MeV/cm or similar. Linear stopping power is often divided by the density of
the material to obtain the mass stopping power, whic h is expressed in units MeV- c m2/g or similar.
The deposited energy c an be obtained by integrating the stopping power over the entire path length of the partic le while it moves in the material.
From Figure 9 (and others like it) the following approximating equations have been derived:
(13a)

dE = E [ 0.35 (x/R)2 + 0.45 (x/R) ]

where x/R 0.8

(13b)

dE = E [ 5.1 (x/R)2 7.1 (x/R) + 3 ]

where x/R > 0.8

dE is the c hange in energy (i.e. the deposited energy), E is the initial energy of the proton, x is the depth of penetration in the material (which, in
this case, is the shielding thickness), and R is the proton's range in the material.
For protons 100 MeV, the relative relationship between range and energy is approximately, R1/R2 (E1/E2)1.7. Since the shielding thic kness is
assumed to equal the range of a 100 MeV proton, we have R1 = x and E1 = 100, therefore,
(14)

x / R = (100 / E)1.7

Let's now perform an example by c omputing the energy lost by a 200 MeV while penetrating the shielding. We have,
x/R = (100/200)1.7 = 0.3078
dE = 200 [ 0.35 0.30782 + 0.45 0.3078 ] = 34.3 MeV
And the energy retained by the proton as it makes its way into the crew c abin is,
E = 200 34.3 = 165.7 MeV
Just as high-energy protons pass through the hull, they will also pass through the body. Therefore we must compute whic h protons will be stopped
in the body, thus depositing all of their energy, and whic h will pass through the body, thereby depositing only a frac tion of their energy. First let's
c ompute the area density of the human body. As before, this is done by dividing the mass by the surfac e area. However, sinc e a proton that

passes through the body will penetrate the skin twic e, we multiply by 2 (this is analogous to a partic le having to penetrate the hull twic e to pass
through the spacec raft).
A = (75 1000) / (1.8 1002 ) 2 = 8.33 g/c m2
The range of a 100 MeV proton in body tissue is about 8 g/c m2, so again it looks like 100 MeV is the magic number. We'll assume protons <100 MeV
will deposit all their energy in the body, and protons 100 MeV will pass through the body. As before we use equation (12) and equation (13a) or
(13b) to c ompute the deposited energy of the 100 MeV protons. Be advised that the energy we use for this computation is the energy of the
proton after it has penetrated into the spac ecraft, not its original energy.
For example, our previous calc ulation found that the energy of a 200 MeV proton is reduc ed to 165.7 MeV after penetrating into the c rew cabin.
Sinc e this proton's energy is still above 100 MeV, it will also penetrate the astronaut's body. The amount of energy deposited in the body is,
x/R = (100/165.7) 1.7 = 0.4238
dE = 165.7 [ 0.35 0.42382 + 0.45 0.4238 ] = 42.0 MeV
Interestingly we see that the higher the velocity of a particle, the lower the stopping power, i.e. the less energy it deposits per length of trac k.
Therefore, when passing through a given thic kness of material, a lower veloc ity partic le will deposit more energy than a higher veloc ity partic le.
Counter- intuitively, a 400 MeV proton produc es less biologic al damage than a 100 MeV proton.
Applying the above c omputational method to the case of Apollo 11, we find that the energy fluenc e from protons 100 MeV is about 4.2106
MeV/c m2 (total for both VARB transits). This is about 40% of these protons' original energy, with the balanc e being either deposited in the shielding
or retained after passing through the body.
Using equations (8) and (9) to calculate the doses we have,
D = (4.2E+06 1.60217657E- 13) (1.8 1002 ) / 75 = 0.00016 Gy = 0.016 rad
H = 0.016 2 = 0.032 rem
Thus, we have a radiation dose from protons of 32 mrem, whic h is less than the dose one would receive from an abdominal x-ray.
Bremsstrahlung
Bremsstrahlung, whic h is German for braking radiation, is secondary photon radiation produc ed by the dec eleration of charged partic les passing
through matter. Bremsstrahlung is primarily electron braking radiation. The frac tion of the total elec tron energy that is given up as bremsstrahlung
by an elec tron in the energy range of interest and stopped in a material having atomic number Z may be expressed approximately as,
(15)*

f =k Z E

where k is a semi- empiric al c onstant having a value of 710-4 MeV-1. The energy given up as bremsstrahlung is the produc t of the elec tron energy
and the frac tion c onverted, E f.
An approximate energy spec trum of the bremsstrahlung is given by,
(16)*

N(E )d(E ) [ 2 k Z (E E ) / E ] d(E )

where N(E)d(E) is the number of photons having energies between E and E + dE. This spectrum is shown graphic ally below.
(* Evans, R. D., "The Atomic Nuc leus," McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, 1955)

Figure 10 Bremsstrahlung spectrum

From Figure 10 it is seen that the spec trum is quite soft; consequently, a material having a high photoelec tric c ross section would c onstitute a very
effective shield. The most effec tive shield for electrons in the VARB would be composed of a layer of low- Z material to stop the primary partic les
followed by a layer of high-Z material to attenuate the bremsstrahlung.
X- or gamma radiation c annot be completely absorbed, but only reduc ed in intensity, when passing through matter. If mono-energetic gamma
radiation attenuation measurements are made under conditions of good geometry, a straight-line relationship between the logarithm of the intensity
versus the thic kness d of the shield is obtained,
(17)

I = I0 e -d

where I is the gamma radiation intensity transmitted through an absorber of thic kness d, I0 is the gamma radiation intensity at zero absorber
thickness, d is the absorber thickness, and is the attenuation coefficient.

Sinc e the produc t d in the above relation must be dimensionless, if the absorber thickness is measured in cm, then the attenuation coeffic ient is
c alled the linear attenuation c oeffic ient and has dimension c m-1. If the thic kness d is in g/cm2 then the attenuation c oefficient is called the mass
attenuation c oefficient and has units of cm2/g.
Table 7A Mass attenuation c oefficients for ALUMINUM

Table 7B Mass attenuation c oefficients for IRON

(There is no universal consensus for a definition distinguishing between x-rays and gamma rays. One common prac tice is to distinguish between
the two types of radiation based on their source: x-rays are emitted by elec trons, while gamma rays are emitted by the atomic nuc leus. A
c ommon alternative is to distinguish x- and gamma radiation on the basis of wavelength, with radiation shorter than some arbitrary wavelength,
such as 10-11 m, defined as gamma radiation.)

We've already c omputed that negligible elec trons will penetrate the hull, but let's now see how much bremsstrahlung they will produc e.
The Apollo c ommand module hull was ideally c omposited to func tion as a shield for elec trons. The heat shield consisted of low-Z hydrogenous
material (Z < 4), which overlaid a stainless steel structural hull (Z = 26). Inside of this was another layer of low-Z insulation and then an inner
aluminum pressure hull (Z = 13).
To determine the fraction of energy given up as bremsstrahlung, we must know into what shielding layer the elec trons will penetrate. From Table 5
we see that the area density of the heat shield is 2.36 g/c m2, thus we can use equation (10b) the compute the energy needed to reac h that
range,
E = (2.36 + 0.106) / 0.530 = 4.65 MeV
We can therefore say that bremsstrahlung from <5 MeV elec trons is produced in the low-Z heat shield, and that from 5 MeV electrons is produc ed
in the high-Z stainless steel. No electrons of significanc e will penetrate beyond the first stainless steel fac e sheet.
To reac h the inside habitable area of the spac ec raft, bremsstrahlung generated in the heat shield must penetrate both the stainless steel hull (from
Table 5, ~3.5 g/cm2) and the aluminum hull (~0.85 g/c m2). Bremsstrahlung generated in the outer stainless steel sheet must pass through what
remains of the stainless steel hull (~2 g/cm2) and the aluminum hull (~0.85 g/c m2). The bremsstrahlung must also make its way through the
secondary shielding (~9 g/c m2).
Bremsstrahlung is c omputed in the same way that we computed the elec tron energy fluence, exc ept we now inc lude in the analysis equation (15)
to convert the electron energy into the appropriate amount of bremsstrahlung. Performing these c omputations we find that there is a
bremsstrahlung energy fluenc e of 4.14107 MeV/cm2 generated in the heat shield, and 1.67105 MeV/cm2 generated in the stainless steel.
Even if every bit of this radiation were absorbed, it would amount to a dose of only 0.16 rem, or 160 mrem. However, before it can become an
absorbed dose it must penetrate the shielding.
The amount of penetration depends, in part, upon the energy of the individual photons. For an x-ray beam that contains a spec trum of photon
energies, the penetration is different for each energy. The overall penetration generally c orresponds to the penetration of a photon between the
minimum and maximum energies of the spectrum c alled the effective energy. The effective energy of an x-ray spec tra is the energy of a mono-

energetic beam of photons that has the same attenuation as the spec trum of photons. Its exact value depends upon the shape of the spectrum.
To be c onservative, it is better to estimate the effec tive energy too high rather than too low. Referring to the spectrum in Figure 10, it looks like
we would be safe in selec ting Eeff = 10 keV, whic h is generally c onsidered the transition between soft and hard x-rays.
We next look up the attenuation coeffic ients for aluminum and stainless steel; for stainless steel we use iron. From tables 7A and 7B, we find that,
for an energy of 10 keV (1.00E- 02 MeV), the mass attenuation coeffic ient for aluminum is 26.2 c m2/g and for iron is 171 cm2/g.
Using equation (17) we compute the fraction of x-ray intensity that is transmitted through the absorbers,
I / I0 = e-(26.2

For aluminum:

For stainless steel:

0.85)

I / I0 = e -(171

= 210-10

2.00)

= 310-149

We can ob viously stop at this point. These lo w e nergy x -rays will be attenuate d to effectively zero lon g before th ey ever reach the crew ca bin. In fact, a mere 1 millimeter of
aluminum will attenuate 99.9% of 10 keV x-rays.
The pe netra tion of x-rays goe s up dramatically with e nergy. Su ppose th e bremsstrahlung spe ctru m inclu des a small number of 50 keV photon s; let's see ho w many of these will
make it through the shie ldin g. From Tables 7A a nd 7B, we have = 0.368 cm 2 /g for aluminum and = 1.96 cm 2 /g for iron. We now have,
For a lumin um:

I / I 0 = e -(0.36 8 0.85) = 0.731

For stain less steel:

I / I

= e -(1.96 2.00) = 0.0198

(o nly one face sheet)

The radiation in te nsity transmitted through both absorbers is the prod uct of the individ ual fractions,
I / I 0 = 0.731 0.0198 = 0.0145
So we see that a sma ll but measurable a mount of p hotons from the hig hest end o f the bremsstrahlung spectrum could conceivably pene trate the shielding . However, the ab ove
com p uta tion assu mes the x-rays are travelin g in a well collimated bea m along the shortest path through the shie ldin g. I n actuality the bremsstrahlung will scatter in m any
directions, with so me photons being force d to travel lo ng pathways tho ugh the sh ield ing, and others being d irected harmle ssly out into space. The ab ove computation s
overestim ate th e fraction of bremsstrahlu ng intensity th at will actually reach the crew cabin . Even th ough som e hard x -rays are likely to m ake it through the shielding, these are
so small in nu mber tha t the dose will be neg ligible.
Altho ugh bremsstrahlung is usually associa te d with electron s, the protons will also give up some of the ir energy a s bremsstrah lung. Even tho ugh there exists some high -energy
protons, on ave ra ge they ha ve en ergies com parable to th e e lectrons. Because protons are less p enetrating than electrons, ne arly a ll will be stopped in th e heat shield, with on ly
those having en ergies >45 Me V able to pene trate dee per. Like e lectron bremsstrahlung, proton bremsstrahlung will be effectively attenuated to zero by the inner layers of the
hull.
We can conclu de that the radia tion dose fro m bremsstrah lung is nea r zero.

Summary
Based on my analysis of electrons, protons, and b re msstrahlung , the predicted total dose receive d b y the Apo llo 11 astronauts as a consequence of their transits of the Va n
Allen radia tion belts was only about 32 mrem, or 0.016 ra ds (a ll from protons 100 MeV). T his sho ws that the Apollo trajectories thou gh th e VARB were n ot o nly survivable, b ut
that the ra diatio n doses rece ived were inconsequentia l. Of co urse the VAR B were not the only source of radiation to which the crews were ex posed. T o record th e actual skin
doses, the a stronauts worn dosimeters. T hese d osimeter me asu re ments for all the Ap ollo missio ns are summarized in T able 8 (Apollo 7 a nd 9 were Ea rth orbit mission s).
Table 8