nuclear-news

Radiation no problem on Mars, but it’ll get you on the way there

Mars is safe from radiation – but the trip there isn’t New Scientist,  21 November 2012 by Joanna Carver and Victoria Jaggard You needn’t fry on Mars. Readings from NASA’s Curiosity rover suggest radiation levels on the Red Planet are about the same as those in low Earth orbit, where astronauts hang out for months on the International Space Station.

A Mars visit would still be dangerous though, due to the years-long return trip.

Unlike Earth, Mars has no magnetosphere shielding it from solar and
galactic radiation. But it does have a thin atmosphere, and readings
from two of Curiosity’s instruments suggest this provides some
protection.

“This is the first ever measurement of the radiation environment on
any planet other than Earth,” Curiosity team member Don Hassler said
at a press briefing on 15 November. “Astronauts can live in this
environment.”……

The biggest threat to Mars voyagers would be the cumulative radiation
exposure during the long trip. NASA estimates that a return human
mission to Mars would take three years. During that time astronauts
might receive more than seven times the radiation dose they get during
six months on the ISS…..

Solar flares would also be a problem. On Earth these eruptions of
charged particles from the sun are largely deflected by the
magnetosphere. But Mars enjoys no such protection, and since Curiosity
has yet to see a flare, it is unclear how much shielding the thin
atmosphere would provide. ‘…
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22520-mars-is-safe-from-radiation–but-the-trip-there-isnt.html

November 22, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, health