New Mars Forums
You are not logged in.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
Announcement
#1 2003-11-19 17:17:02
- Ian
- Member
- Registered: 2002-01-08
- Posts: 236
Re: Ultraviolet Light and the spacecraft windows
I'd just like to know what's going to be done about the problem that astronauts have with the sun's ultraviolet light. I heard that it can be dangerous to be near the window of a space shuttle or something when it's exposed to the sun. Can't a window be designed for the space shuttle that can fliter out the ultraviolet light and any other radiation that can harm the humans in the spacecraft and still hold in the same atmospheric pressure that we feel on earth? Please reply.
Offline
Like button can go here
#2 2003-11-19 20:44:02
- RobertDyck
- Moderator
- From: Winnipeg, Canada
- Registered: 2002-08-20
- Posts: 7,978
- Website
Re: Ultraviolet Light and the spacecraft windows
Car windshields today use laminated glass. That is two layers of tempered glass with a film of plastic holding them together. The plastic is polyvinyl butyral (PVB) which also blocks 99% of UV light. If cars used laminated glass on all windows it would prevent UV damage to the upholstery. Then there are Low-e windows. They use a spectrally selective coating to reflect UV and IR light while letting visible light through. The silver based compound used for Low-e windows will reflect 98% of UV, 80%-90% of near IR and 55% of far IR. That difference between near and far IR is intended to keep out radiant heat from something very hot like the sun, while letting out radiant heat from something warm like the floor, walls, furniture, etc. That helps keep buildings in the southern US cool. However, since both PVB and Low-e windows block UV, you have a couple choices.
Offline
Like button can go here
#3 2003-11-21 08:30:32
- Ian
- Member
- Registered: 2002-01-08
- Posts: 236
Re: Ultraviolet Light and the spacecraft windows
I'm talking about using windows that filter out ultravioltet light on the Space Shuttle or Future manned spacecraft. I'm not talking about using it down here on earth.
Offline
Like button can go here
#4 2003-11-21 11:18:48
- Palomar
- Member
- From: USA
- Registered: 2002-05-30
- Posts: 9,734
Re: Ultraviolet Light and the spacecraft windows
*I've wondered about the windows issue as well.
Besides special coating or specially treated windows, I presume the inner portion of the craft will/can be outfitted with sliding "shades"...you know, similar to the windows on airliners. It's going to be important to be able to block the ever-present glare of sunlight out in space whenever you want that option.
Robert, thank you for your post, which I understand attempts to explain how similar technology used for car windshields may be used in spacecraft.
Geez, Robert, I really am beginning to wonder if you know just about everything. You seem to have an encyclopedic mind.
--Cindy 
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
Offline
Like button can go here
#5 2003-11-21 11:24:37
- RobertDyck
- Moderator
- From: Winnipeg, Canada
- Registered: 2002-08-20
- Posts: 7,978
- Website
Re: Ultraviolet Light and the spacecraft windows
I'm talking about using windows that filter out ultravioltet light on the Space Shuttle or Future manned spacecraft. I'm not talking about using it down here on earth.
The same material as car windshields or office building windows can be used on Space Shuttle windows.
Offline
Like button can go here
#6 2003-11-21 14:37:32
- Bill White
- Member
- Registered: 2001-09-09
- Posts: 2,114
Re: Ultraviolet Light and the spacecraft windows
During the flight to Mars, might the sun's UV be harnessed to kill molds, bacteria and other nasty contaminants that can develop in confined spaces?
Evacuate people from one or another room of the TransHab and open some window shades and allow UV to flood the room for several hours. UV light plus photocatalyst coatings on walls and floors might be a simple way to disinfect and eradicate slime molds and similiar pests.
Didn't Mir develop a peculiar odor that was never isolated but was probably caused by mold or a related biological contaminant?
In a permanent Mars settlement, supercritical CO2 could also prove useful to sterilize common everyday items.
Offline
Like button can go here
#7 2003-11-29 13:12:08
- Ian
- Member
- Registered: 2002-01-08
- Posts: 236
Re: Ultraviolet Light and the spacecraft windows
I just found this website. It's about using ultraviolet light to kill germs. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994427
Offline
Like button can go here
#8 2003-11-29 14:32:44
- Rxke
- Member
- From: Belgium
- Registered: 2003-11-03
- Posts: 3,669
Re: Ultraviolet Light and the spacecraft windows
open some window shades and allow UV to flood the room for several hours.
Problem is, the light wouldn't reach every nook and cranny of the interior... Maybe use some mobile mirrors to reflect it?
*Me imagines an empty crew quarters with spinning discoballs inside, radiating germ-killing U.V.* 
Offline
Like button can go here
#9 2004-01-08 16:21:38
- Ian
- Member
- Registered: 2002-01-08
- Posts: 236
Re: Ultraviolet Light and the spacecraft windows
The windows that filter out ultraviolet light right here on earth might not be sensitive to the amount of ultraviolet light in space because there might be a difference in the amount of solar ultraviolet light in orbit compared to the amount that gets down here on earth.
Offline
Like button can go here