The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

336 radiation protection in space
scope. The R-3 would have been able to deliver a
three-ton atomic bomb to any point in Europe from
Soviet territory—a range of 3,000 km. Although it
never left the drawing board, the R-3 had a lasting
effect on Soviet rocketry. It challenged Russian
designers with a new level of technical complexity and
paved the way for a huge growth of the Soviet rocket
industry, which was soon in full swing developing the
R-7. The role of the R-3, as an intermediate-range ballistic
missile (IRBM), was taken over by the R-5 and
R-11. However, it was not until 1962, with the R-14,
that the Soviet Union would put a 3,000-km-range
IRBM into service.
R-7
The world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile
(ICBM), known in the West as the SS-6 or Sapwood.
The R-7, designed by Korolev, formed the basis of a
large family of space launch vehicles, which includes
the Sputnik, Vostok, Molniya, Voskhod, and Soyuz—
radiation protection in space
(continued from page 334)
helped the Apollo astronauts once they were on their way
to the Moon. The Apollo missions, being relatively brief,
relied on the low probability of SPEs and had no extra
shielding. By contrast, on a future Mars mission both a
solar flare warning system and some form of radiation
protection within the spacecraft will be an absolute necessity.
The protection could take the form of a small shelter
with radiation-resistant walls. However, this approach has
limitations. For example, it is not effective against GCRs—
in fact, unless the shelter is massive (in which case it places
a heavy burden on the propulsion system), it is worse than
no shielding at all, because the impact of a GCR nucleus
on a light shield would be to spawn secondary radiation
more hazardous than the original. Since GCR cumulative
doses on missions lasting more than a year may exceed
the recommended maximum allowable whole-body radiation
dose, mission designers are considering an alternative
to the simple shelter in the form of an active
electromagnetic shield. This would work like a miniature
version of Earth’s magnetic field—by bending the trajectory
of incoming charged particles away from the region
28, 49, 104, 189
to be protected.
radio astronomy satellites
See, in launch order: RAE-1 (Jul. 1968), Shinsei (Sep.
1971), RAE-2 (Jun. 1973), SWAS (Dec. 1988), COBE
the most frequently launched and the most reliable
rockets in spaceflight history.
R-12 and R-14
IRBMs designed by Mikhail Yangel from which
evolved the Cosmos family of space launch vehicles.
The R-12 and R-14 were known to NATO as the SS-4
Sandal and SS-5 Skean, respectively. In October 1962,
R-12s figured in the world’s most dangerous nuclear
standoff, following Khrushchev’s decision to place
them on Cuba. The Soviets backed down in the face
of a U.S. naval blockade of the island.
R-36
An ICBM with a range of 12,000 km, designed by
Yangel, which tilted the strategic balance in the 1960s
and became known in the West as the SS-9 Scarp, or
“city buster.” It also formed the basis for the Tsyklon
family of space launch vehicles.
(Nov. 1989), HALCA (Feb. 1997), MAP (Jun. 2001), Herschel
(2007), Planck (2007), ARISE, RadioAstron, and
VSOP.
radio waves
Electromagnetic radiation spanning a wide frequency
range from about 3 kHz to about 300 GHz, corresponding
to a wavelength range of 100 km to 0.1 cm.
radioactivity
A phenomenon displayed by some atomic nuclei in
which they spontaneously emit radiation, at the same
time shifting to a lower energy state or modifying the
number of protons and neutrons they contain. The three
types of radioactive emissions are alpha particles (helium
nuclei), beta particles (high-speed electrons), and gamma
rays (high-energy photons).
RadioAstron
A multinational mission to study radio galaxies and
quasars with unprecedented angular resolution using an
orbiting 10-m radio telescope. Through coordination
with a global ground-based network, the telescope will
provide information about the regions surrounding black
holes, the distances to pulsars, and fundamental cosmological
properties like the nature of hidden mass. Scientists
from more than 20 nations are collaborating to
build, plan, and support the RadioAstron mission.