The Cosmos 2044 biosatellite mission offered the opportunity for radiation measurements under conditions which are seldom available (an inclination of 82.3 degrees and altitude of 294 x 216 km). Measurements were made on the outside of the spacecraft under near-zero shielding conditions. Also, this mission was the first in which temperature recorders (ATR-4) were flown to record the temperature profiles of detector stacks. As in previous experiments, plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTDs), thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs), and nuclear emulsion stacks were used. Also neutron monitors of 59Co activation foils, fission foil high energy detectors, and 6LiF low energy detectors were used.

Results:

The TLD depth dose results show a greater spread in dose rates as compared with Cosmos 1887, with a greater maximum (minimum shielding) and lesser minimum (maximum shielding). This is explained by the fact that the higher inclination, lower altitude orbit intersected greater electron fluxes at high latitudes in the horns of the electron belt, but lesser trapped proton fluxes in passing beneath the South Atlantic Anomaly. The PNTDs measured a smaller flux of particles with LET >4 keV*m-1 on Cosmos 2044, which is consistent with the TLD results. The measured neutron fluxes, outside the spacecraft, were smaller by factors of up to two from previous measurements made inside the Cosmos spacecraft. Total absorbed dose rates varied from 2.5 x 105 to 8.3 mrad d-1 under shielding of 0.0146 to 3.20 g/cm-2 LiF. For particles with LET >4 keV *m-1, dose rates varied from 7.01 mrad d-1 (53.8 mrem d-1) to 1.20 mrad d-1 (12.3 mrem d-1) under shielding of 0.164 to 1.95 g/cm-1 composite materials.