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#1 2003-11-29 00:47:30

Bill White
Member
Registered: 2001-09-09
Posts: 2,114

Re: Demron radiation shielding - Hoax or opportunity?

These test results suggest Demron may actually be an effective radiation shield provided you use as much (in mass) as you would lead.

In other words, 1 kilogram of Demron will provide equivalent protection as 1 kilogram of lead, without many of the nasty negative aspects of working with lead. If I read this correctly, using Demron instead of lead will not reduce the mass needed for launch yet could prove far easier to work with.

Also, since a heavy metal shield that falls below total safety is itself a very dangerous source of neutron emission (the shield material itself emits neutrons into the space vessel) an slightly insufficient Demron shield may be far safer than a slightly insufficient lead shield.

If Demron can be fashioned into water bladders, and thus save the weight of the plastic bladders, additional protection might be achieved.

Does anyone know anything more about Demron, beyond the press releases?

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#2 2003-11-29 03:11:31

Rxke
Member
From: Belgium
Registered: 2003-11-03
Posts: 3,669

Re: Demron radiation shielding - Hoax or opportunity?

Very interesting material. Wide range of applications...

Suits, window/greenhouse emergency covers in case of solar storms, packaging (imagine a bunch of Demron flexible bags (like the ones now in use on ISS, in combination with your water-bladders) in the cargo-hold instead of a plate of lead, when emptied later on, these bags would still be useful, just stacke em wherever you want etc.

Heck, you gould line the sleeping bags with it, etc...

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#3 2003-12-01 09:53:32

Bill White
Member
Registered: 2001-09-09
Posts: 2,114

Re: Demron radiation shielding - Hoax or opportunity?

NASA might trump this Demron stuff.

Link here

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