Kevin Fong explains that when astronauts leave Earth, they leave behind the protection that our atmosphere offers from many types of radiation.
Aboard the International Space Station, UK astronaut Tim Peake monitors his radiation exposure using a TimePix detector.
Using a student from the audience to help, Kevin shows that a Geiger-Muller tube can be used to detect ionising radiation.
A laboratory notebook used by the scientist who developed medical X-ray imaging technology is found to be highly radioactive.
But the detectors used by astronauts can detect not just the number of particles that hit them, but also the types of ionising particle that hit them, and Kevin demonstrates this on screen.
This clip is from the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2015.
Teacher Notes
Key Stage 3
After watching the clip, ask students to research the three types of ionising radiation and how they can be stopped.
Key Stage 4
Before watching the clip, ask students to recall the three types of ionising radiation and what they already know about them.
What are the hazards to astronauts aboard the ISS from ionising radiation?
Curriculum Notes
This clip will be relevant for teaching Physics.
This topic appears at KS3 or in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC KS4/GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA National 4/5 in Scotland.
More from the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2015
What is Newton's Cannon and Third Law? video
Dr Kevin Fong demonstrates projectile motion, orbit and Newton’s Third Law.
Using Earth’s rotation to launch a rocket. video
Dr Kevin Fong demonstrates how a space rocket’s launch direction affects its success in reaching orbit.
How the vacuum of space affects the human body. video
Dr Kevin Fong does a demonstration to show the lethal effects of a vacuum on the human body.
Resonant Frequency. video
Dr Kevin Fong explains how sound vibrations could pose a real threat astronauts and rockets in space.
Orbital Rendezvous. video
Dr Kevin Fong demonstrates how and why it's so hard for a spacecraft to catch up with the International Space Station.
What does gas weigh? video
A demonstration that carbon dioxide can be poured because it is denser than air.
Why are bones weaker in orbit? video
Kevin Fong explains how micro-gravity can weaken bones. Models are used to show that bones are strong but light, and how low gravity weakens them.
How micro-gravity disorientates us. video
A demonstration of how dizziness occurs during motion sickness or micro-gravity.
The danger of orbital debris. video
Dr Kevin Fong and NASA astronaut Dan Tani explain the danger of space debris.
Demonstrating heat shield material. video
Dr Kevin Fong explains that space capsules heat up due to pressure not friction. He demonstrates a heat shield’s low thermal conductivity.
Why Earth rock is found on the Moon. video
Dr Kevin Fong demonstrates how debris from meteorites hitting Earth threw Earth rock as far as the Moon, leaving clues there about Earth’s geological history.
How Earth protects us from radiation. video
Dr Kevin Fong discusses the dangers to astronauts of solar radiation, and how we’re protected from it by Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field.
Why tardigrades can survive in orbit. video
Dr Kevin Fong explains why tardigrades are so resilient when exposed to ionising radiation lethal to most other organisms.
How to recycle urine in space. video
Dr Kevin Fong demonstrates a urine recycling system that works using osmosis, concluding by drinking the liquid that is produced.
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