Application of the FLUKA Monte-Carlo transport code to lunar and planetary exploration

Lunar and planetary exploration necessarily involves a need to understand the primary particle radiation and secondary albedo production for space environments such as the surface of the Moon and Mars. These surface radiation environments contain a full spectrum of particle types, including relativistic nuclei produced in heavy-ion collisions. That radiation background influences the design of science payloads, power generation systems, and human habitation requirements. FLUKA is a well-known Monte Carlo transport code used as a simulation tool for the analysis of such particle radiation backgrounds in high-energy physics. Our NASA-funded collaboration is adapting FLUKA for use in science and engineering design of planetary surface systems as well. We will present some of the applications that such a simulation tool provides, with an illustration of the FLUKA-predicted neutron albedo for nuclear-based power systems in planetary exploration.