Initializing the Development of Measurement Enhancement for the Existing NASA Space Radiation Shielding Consortium / 78-79
Lawrence S. Pinsky
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Abstract--This effort was directed at seeking funding under NASA NRA 03-OBPR-05. The PI submitted a proposal in January, 2004 in response to the NRA for funding to enhance the capabilities of measurements currently funded under existing NASA grants. NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR) has decided to fund efforts in the physics aspects of Space Radiation Research through the mechanism of creating consortia of research groups. To date several of these consortia have been funded. The PI is currently a member of one of the major Space Radiation Shielding Physics Consortia, specifically the group charged with modeling the Space Radiation Environment and, in particular, with developing transport codes to enable that modeling. One of the other major consortia has a mandate to conduct measurements of the physical cross sections needed to support the work of the modeling consortium. The proposal requested funding to study resources needed to enable the enhancement of the currently funded efforts to enable them to take a wider class of data. This increased measurement capability is essential to the efficient use of the accelerator beam time and will significantly expedite the development of the various transport codes. The intended outcome of this work, long term, was to have been for another major proposal for the construction of a substantially enhanced detector system. Although that proposal was actually not funded, its longer-range goal has occurred anyway, and NASA has issued a subsequent NRA for the exact purposes intended. The PI is a participant on a current major funding proposal to NASA to participate in future measurements.

To date, the PI has obtained five grants totaling more than $2,100,000 from proposals whose writing was enabled in part by prior ISSO support. In addition, prior ISSO support has resulted in the publication of over 25 papers and presentations worldwide.