Performance of hydrogen-rich materials in combination with lunar regolith for shielding against GCR, albedo, and SPEs on the surface of the moon studied using MULASSIS

The moon is the most likely location for future human habitation. The radiation exposure from the combination of galactic cosmic rays, solar particle events, and albedo radiation on the Moon’s surface is one of the major obstacles to permanent settlement by astronauts. A promising strategy for ensuring enough shielding while minimizing the labor and cost required to transport building supplies to the moon is the integration of lunar regolith into habitation shielding. Materials with a high hydrogen content could be used to cover the inner wall of the lunar regolith walls of the habitat. The hydrogen content would increase shielding efficiency against protons and neutrons, while the materials would also separate the habitation’s interior from the hazardous lunar regolith. This publication compares various hydrogen-rich materials for this application using Monte Carlo simulations of the adsorbed dose behind a shielding model, including lunar regolith. In addition, we show how to achieve a maximal shielding of radiation when using only lunar regolith. We find that of the hydrogen-rich materials used together with lunar regolith, lithium hydride yields the best shielding properties.