Satellite & Space Missions

Biography

Ruth Bamford has been a research scientist at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in Oxfordshire in the U.K. since 1996. Her research areas include Space Weather and fundamental plasma physics. Her particular emphasis is on kinetic effects in plasmas. She is the principle investigator of the Mini-Magnetospheric project for space craft protection. The concept concerns ‘Active’ or electromagnetic plasma shielding of manned spacecraft for long stay and interplanetary missions, and satellites in radiation belts. Prior to working at RAL, Ruth spent 10 years at the home of what is currently the world’s largest “tokamak”, JET, at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) in Oxfordshire.  She gained her 1st Class Honours in Applied Physics from the University of Sunderland in 1988 and her PhD from the Uni. Of Essex. She worked as a post-doc of Imperial Collage, London before moving in 1996 to work on space plasmas.

Abstract

Abstract : Could mini-magnetospheres really be used to protect spacecraft from `cosmic rays’?