| NASA's charter for exploration missions could take humans to deep space, asteroids, the Moon, and eventually Mars. Each of these missions necessitates a safe and productive place for the crew to live and work, namely deep space habitats. Long-term habitation requires the use of large structures which must withstand the environment for the duration of the extended-stay missions.;Recently, fiber-reinforced composite materials have gained interest as a potential structural material for deep space and planetary habitats. These materials can provide weight savings, potentially enhanced radiation protection for the crew, and lend themselves to cutting-edge research when compared to existing metals. However, these materials have not been characterized for the space environment, and particularly the space radiation environment, which is known to cause damage to polymeric materials. Thus, this study focused on a lunar habitation element and the integrity of potential composite materials after exposure to a simulated long-term lunar radiation environment.;Two aerospace composites of interest to NASA were chosen for the study and were subjected to a thirty-year simulated lunar radiation environment. The durability of the materials was investigated during the radiation exposure, and the material properties were characterized post-radiation exposure. Additionally, the effects of dose rate and synergistic tendencies between radiation and tension were examined. Finally, an exploration of the surface of the materials was completed to determine whether there were indications of accelerated aging as a result of the radiation exposure. |
