I agree, the question in my mind is how strong will that field will need to be which I guess depends upon how energetic those particles are. The Earth has multiple layers between us and the bad stuff.
I was just reading about this: http://www.space.com/21561-space-exploration-radiation-protection-plastic.html which sounds interesting On Sunday, July 28, 2013, Axil Axil wrote: > A significant difficulty for manned missions outside of the Earth's > magnetosphere, including Mars missions, asteroid exploration, and > space-based mining and manufacturing, is the hazard of crew exposure to > particulate radiation. With the recent resurgence of interest in manned > Mars missions, crew radiation shielding has again become an active problem > for investigation > > > One solution to the problem of shielding crew from particulate radiation > in space is to use active electromagnetic shielding. Practical types of > shield include the magnetic shield, in which a strong magnetic field > diverts charged particles from the crew region, and the > magnetic/electrostatic plasma shield, in which an electrostatic field > shields the crew from positively charged particles, while a magnetic field > confines electrons from the space plasma to provide charge neutrality. > Advances in technology might include high temperature LENR based > superconductivity in Bose Einstein condensation. > > > Since the dangerous particles involved are charged, an alternative > solution to the problem of shielding is the use of active electromagnetic > shields. The simplest such device is the magnetic dipole shield. The > magnetic field of the Earth is a good example of a magnetic shield, and is > responsible for the relatively benign radiation environment on Earth. A > magnetic shield makes use of the fact that a charge particle's trajectory > in a magnetic field is curved. As a particle enters the region of high > magnetic field, its trajectory will curve away from the region to be > protected. In essence, the principle is exactly the reverse of that > involved in a magnetic bottle; in this case the intent is to trap the > particles outside the region of interest, instead of inside. The advantages > of a magnetic shield to crew safety and health are obvious. > > > A crew bound for Mars could be placed inside a liquid metal cooled hollow > ellipsoid LENR Ni/H reaction chamber that provides propulsion for the Mars > craft. The LENR reaction will divert the positive particle radiation and > neutralize it in strong electrostatic electron concentrations. > > > LENR could open the door to safe space transportation and habitation in a > hazardous radiation environment. > > >
