Magnetic shield could protect spacecraft

>The researchers believe it is possible to exploit this knowledge of turbulence to create a much smaller protective bubble, and have confirmed this belief — first through computer simulations, and then in a laboratory experiment. The latter involved injecting a supersonic plasma into a 1.5 m long vacuum vessel lined with magnetic coils, with a target magnet placed at the far end of the vessel. Using both optical imaging and an electromagnetic probe, Bamford’s team showed that the target magnet deflected the plasma such that the volume of space surrounding the magnet was almost entirely free of plasma particles (Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 50 124025).

Bamford and colleagues say these results show that a spacecraft could in fact be protected using a bubble just some 100–200 m across. This, they say, would correspond to a magnet of about 1 Tesla, which would be light enough to be transported into space."

Working link to the paper (because the one in the article appears to be dead): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/243359043_The_inter...

Also, should probably include the date (2008) in the title.

> Getting in a tin can with a rocket on your back and flying to Mars is never going to be a safe thing to do - Ruth Bamford, Rutherford lab

Haha.

In all seriousness, is the essence of the article saying that placing strong enough magnets around a rocket that will exit the Earth's magnetosphere is enough to protect against most kinds of cosmic rays?