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Radiation on trip to Mars near life limit HERALD SUN, AAP MAY 31, 2013  ASTRONAUTS who travel on future missions to Mars would likely be exposed to their lifetime limit of radiation during the trip, not to mention time spent on the Red Planet, scientists say.

The measurements were made aboard the Mars Science Laboratory, an unmanned NASA rover and mobile lab that set off for Mars in 2011 before landing 253 days later in August 2012, said the report in the US journal Science.

“In terms of accumulated dose, it’s like getting a whole-body CT scan once every five or six days,” said Cary Zeitlin, a principal scientist in Southwest Research Institute’s (SwRI) Space Science and Engineering Division.

“Radiation exposure at the level we measured is right at the edge, or possibly over the edge of what is considered acceptable in terms of career exposure limits defined by NASA and other space agencies.”

Zeitlin said more study is needed to determine the actual health risks — including the likelihood of developing cancer — associated with exposure to cosmic radiation before any human trip to Mars can take place.

The US space agency has said it is aiming for the first-ever astronaut mission to Mars some time in the 2030s…….. HTTP://WWW.HERALDSUN.COM.AU/NEWS/BREAKING-NEWS/RADIATION-ON-TRIP-TO-MARS-NEAR-LIFE-LIMIT/STORY-FNI0XQLL-1226654163809