Worst Case Solar Energetic Particle Events for Deep Space Missions

Over the past two decades, various models of “worst case” solar energetic particle event (SPE) spectra have been proposed in order to place an upper bound on the likely doses to critical body organs of astronauts on missions outside Earth’s geomagnetic field. In this work, direct comparisons of organ dose estimates for various models of “worst case” SPE spectra are made by using the same transport code (BRYNTRN) and the same human geometry model (Computerized Anatomical Man). The calculations are made assuming nominal thicknesses of spacecraft aluminum shielding. Discussions of possible acute exposure responses from these exposures are presented.