A team at CERN is working with the European Space Radiation Superconducting Shield (SR2S) project to develop a superconducting magnet that could protect astronauts from cosmic radiation during deep-space missions. The idea is to create an active magnetic field to shield spacecraft from high-energy particles.
The superconductor coils for the prototype magnet will be made of magnesium diboride (MgB2), the same type of conductor that was developed in the form of wire for the High Luminosity Cold Powering project at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.
“In the framework of the project, we will test, in the coming months, a racetrack coil wound with an MgB2 superconducting tape,” says Bernardo Bordini, coordinator of CERN activity in the framework of the SR2S project. “The prototype coil is designed to quantify the effectiveness of the superconducting magnetic shielding technology.”