The MATROSHKA facility--dose determination during an EVA.

On 29 January 2004 the MATROSHKA facility was launched with a Russian Progress to the International Space Station. MATROSHKA is an ESA project, which has been achieved under the direction of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The project is a cooperation of >16 research institutes from all over the world and is currently the biggest international experiment in radiation dosimetry ever performed in space. The facility simulates, as exact as possible, an astronaut during an extravehicular activity. It was successfully installed outside the Russian segment 'Zvezda' on 26 February 2004 and will remain there for a 1.5 year exposure period. The main task of the facility is to measure particle fluence and energy spectra, dose and dose rates outside and inside--including organ dose determination--in an anthropomorphic phantom mounted on the outside of the Space Station with passive and active dosemeter systems.