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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Cosmic rays are one of the greatest challenges for space travel and pose a considerable risk to humans and materials. For the first time on European soil, an international research team in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) has succeeded in providing a simulator for Galactic Cosmic Rays at the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility in Darmstadt, Germany. The results have been published in two articles in the journal “Life Sciences in Space Research.”
Outside of Earth’s protective magnetic field, astronauts and spacecraft are exposed to cosmic radiation. Next to solar particles, Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) are the main component. These are high-energy particles originating from outside our solar system, for example from supernovae or other explosive events within the Milky Way. GCRs consist mainly of protons and helium nuclei, but also other high-charge and high-energy particles (HZE), which contribute significantly to the radiation exposure of astronauts.
Estimates show that in space, every cell in an astronaut’s body is traversed by a proton every few days, by helium nuclei every few weeks, and by HZE particles every few months. In addition, neutrons and fragments are created when the particles pass through the shielding of a spacecraft. This can be particularly problematic during long-term missions to the Moon or to Mars, where significantly higher exposure levels are to be expected than in Low Earth Orbit.
GCRs are therefore the most significant long-term health risk for astronauts and can lead to cancer, degenerative cell effects, or disorders of the central nervous system. They also pose a threat to the electronic systems in spacecraft. Understanding and mitigating these risks is essential for a safe and sustainable human presence in space. Research on GCRs can only be conducted directly in space or with the aid of high-energy heavy ion accelerators like they are available at GSI/FAIR.
“Until now, there has been no reliable way to simulate GCRs in Europe,” explains Marco Durante, professor at the Technical University of Darmstadt and head of GSI/FAIR’s research department Biophysics. “That’s why our research team, with the support of our ESA partners, developed a simulator for GCRs and put it into operation at GSI/FAIR as part of the FAIR Phase 0 experiment program. This enables researchers to better understand the doses that affect technical components and human tissue and how these effects can be controlled or limited in a targeted approach.”
For this purpose, the researchers of the Space Radiation Physics group, led by Dr. Christoph Schuy of the Biophysics department, employ the unique GSI accelerators, which deliver high-energy ion beams of all elements occurring naturally on Earth. The GCR simulator is based on a hybrid, active-passive method: the energy of a primary beam of iron ions is actively varied before hitting passive beam modulators — a well-known and proven method from particle therapy. The geometry, material, composition, and thickness of the modulators are optimized to create a deep space radiation environment analog.
“Our results show good agreement with the values known from space missions. This technique can be used to generate a mixed radiation field that replicates the GCR exposure in a lightly shielded habitat like a spacecraft. In the future, we want to make the GCR simulator available to scientists for further space radiation research,” says Schuy. “True to our claim, we bring the Universe to the lab with this achievement.”
With the GCR simulator at GSI, supported by ESA, now a second possibility to study GCRs exists in the world — in addition to the simulator at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA, supported by NASA. Both provide beams with a maximal energy of one gigaelectronvolt per nucleon. The accelerator center FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), which is currently under construction at GSI in international collaboration, offers enhanced future perspectives. At FAIR, the energy will reach ten gigaelectronvolt per nucleon, making the GCR simulator in Darmstadt the most accurate worldwide.
GSI/FAIR and ESA have been working closely together for many years, using ion accelerators for the investigation of biological effects of cosmic radiation and finding solutions to protect astronauts. A simulator for Solar Particle Events (SPEs) based on modulators for tumor therapy is already available. Both institutions also jointly organize the annual “ESA-FAIR Space Radiation School” to give students an insight into the fundamentals of biophysics with heavy ions for both terrestrial and space applications. The next school will take place in August 2026, registration is open until April 12.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lssr.2026.02.004
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lssr.2026.02.003
https://www.gsi.de/en/start/news/details/2026/03/13/gcr-simulator
Modulator — The GCR simulator is based on a hybrid, active-passive method: the energy of a primary b ...
Copyright: © GSI/FAIR
Postdoc Dr. Enrico Pierobon (left) and PhD-student Luca Lunati from GSI/FAIR Biophysics mount a micr ...
Copyright: © A. Dörr, GSI/FAIR
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