Doses due to the South Atlantic Anomaly during the Euromir'95 mission measured by an on-board TLD system.

During the Euromir'95 mission, a specially designed microprocessor-controlled thermoluminescent detector (TLD) system, called the 'Pille'95', was used by ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter to measure the cosmic radiation dose inside the Mir space station. One of the experiment's objectives was to determine the dose fraction on Mir due to the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) on an orbit inclined at 51.6 degrees and at an altitude of about 400 km. Using an hourly measuring period for 170 h in automatic mode, dose components both of galactic (independent of SAA) and SAA origin were determined. It was found that the maximum dose due to crossing the SAA was equal to 55 microGy. Averaging all the measurements it was calculated that the mean dose rate inside the Mir was 12-14 microGy h-1 and that half of this value was caused by the SAA.