NE Seminar: Human Spaceflight-Driven Innovations in Radiation Protection

Details

Abstract

Astronauts are exposed to many stressors during spaceflight, including reduced gravity, isolation and confinement, and elevated radiation levels. In contrast with the terrestrial radiation environment, the space radiation environment is dominated by highly charged, high-energy heavy ions that interact with matter to produce penetrating secondary and higher-order fields, challenging traditional shielding techniques. The unique nature of the space radiation environment, astronaut performance requirements, and the lasting duty to protect astronauts from mission-related harm require a space-specific radiation protection paradigm that innovates on Earth-based radiation protection practices.

In this talk, I will discuss my experience working in space radiation protection, including radiation transport simulation and computational dosimetry, space radiation detection and monitoring, and radiation epidemiology. I will also discuss the ethical underpinnings of limiting space radiation exposure in the context of challenging limits based on age- and sex-specific risks. Finally, I will describe my perspectives on the future of space radiation protection and how these activities will impact terrestrial radiation protection in the years to come.

Bio

Amir A. Bahadori

Associate Professor
Kansas State University

Dr. Amir A. Bahadori is an associate professor in the Alan Levin Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at Kansas State University. Bahadori is a Steve Hsu Keystone Research Faculty Scholar and holds the Hal and Mary Siegele Professorship in Engineering. He earned BS degrees in mechanical engineering with nuclear engineering option and mathematics from Kansas State University in 2008, an MS in nuclear engineering sciences in 2010 from the University of Florida, and a PhD in biomedical engineering in 2012 from the University of Florida. Bahadori was employed at NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center from 2010 to 2015, with work focused on astronaut radiation risk projection and assessment, space radiation dosimetry using active pixel detectors, and space radiation transport using deterministic and Monte Carlo-based codes. He returned to Kansas State University as an assistant professor in 2015 and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2021, where he teaches courses in nuclear/radiological engineering and conducts research with focus areas in radiation protection, radiation transport applications, and semiconductor detector modeling and simulation. Bahadori has been certified in the comprehensive practice of health physics by the American Board of Health Physics since 2015.