{"id":383779,"date":"2026-03-13T21:29:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/383779\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T21:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:29:16","slug":"new-simulator-in-germany-recreates-galactic-cosmic-rays-on-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/383779\/","title":{"rendered":"New simulator in Germany recreates galactic cosmic rays on Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists have developed Europe\u2019s first simulator capable of recreating galactic cosmic rays, one of the most dangerous radiation threats in deep-space travel.<\/p>\n

An international research team built the system with support from the European Space Agency at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research accelerator facility in Darmstadt, Germany.<\/p>\n

The system allows researchers to recreate the radiation environment astronauts face beyond Earth\u2019s magnetic field.<\/p>\n

Scientists published the results in two papers in the journal Life Sciences in Space Research.<\/p>\n

Until now, Europe lacked a reliable way to reproduce galactic cosmic radiation on Earth.<\/p>\n

The simulator provides scientists with a controlled environment to study these risks.<\/p>\n

Deep-space radiation threat<\/p>\n

Astronauts traveling beyond Earth\u2019s magnetic field face constant exposure to cosmic radiation.<\/p>\n

Deep-space missions face far higher levels than those in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

Galactic cosmic rays originate outside the solar system.<\/p>\n

Explosive cosmic events such as supernovae accelerate these particles across the Milky Way.<\/p>\n

These particles consist mostly of protons and helium nuclei. <\/p>\n

They also include heavier high-charge and high-energy particles known as HZE particles.<\/p>\n

Scientists estimate that a proton passes through every cell in an astronaut\u2019s body every few days. Helium nuclei pass through cells every few weeks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Beam modulator used to shape ion beams for galactic cosmic ray simulation. Credit \u2013 \u00a0GSI\/FAIR<\/p>\n

Heavier particles arrive roughly every few months.<\/p>\n

Radiation also interacts with spacecraft shielding. These interactions create neutrons and fragments that increase radiation exposure.<\/p>\n

Galactic cosmic rays pose major long-term health risks.<\/p>\n

They can increase cancer risk, damage cells, and affect the central nervous system. <\/p>\n

Radiation can also disrupt spacecraft electronics.<\/p>\n

Understanding these hazards remains essential for future missions to the Moon and Mars.<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s first GCR simulator<\/p>\n

Researchers built the simulator using accelerators at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research complex in Darmstadt.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil now, there has been no reliable way to simulate GCRs in Europe,\u201d explains Marco Durante, professor at the Technical University of Darmstadt and head of GSI\/FAIR\u2019s research department Biophysics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The system uses high-energy ion beams produced by GSI accelerators.<\/p>\n

Scientists begin with a beam of iron ions and vary its energy before directing it into specially designed beam modulators.<\/p>\n

Researchers optimized the modulators to recreate radiation conditions similar to deep space.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur results show good agreement with the values known from space<\/a> missions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis technique can be used to generate a mixed radiation field that replicates the GCR exposure in a lightly shielded habitat like a spacecraft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Future space mission research<\/p>\n

The simulator gives scientists another platform to study cosmic<\/a> radiation. <\/p>\n

Until now, the only comparable system operated at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the United States, with support from NASA.<\/p>\n

Both systems currently produce ion beams with energies up to one gigaelectronvolt per nucleon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the future, we want to make the GCR simulator available to scientists for further space radiation<\/a> research,\u201d says Christoph Schuy of the GSI Biophysics department.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue to our claim, we bring the Universe to the lab with this achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists have developed Europe\u2019s first simulator capable of recreating galactic cosmic rays, one of the most dangerous radiation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[77],"tags":[28210,175907,18,6145,3062,175908,19,17,133,49418],"class_list":["post-383779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-cosmic-radiation","tag-cosmic-ray-simulator","tag-eire","tag-esa","tag-galactic-cosmic-rays","tag-gsi-accelerator","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-space-radiation"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116223997665779811","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}