An international collaboration of scientists states that it is safe for astronauts to fly to Mars and return, as long as the duration of the mission does not exceed four years and that manned flights to the red planet coincide with a known solar cycle.
Space can kill you in all sorts of different ways, with particle radiation among the most serious dangers. Small doses of ionizing radiation are not the problem; it’s the long-term exposure you’ll get. The harmful effects of particle radiation are cumulative, resulting in health conditions such as cancer, a damaged nervous system, cataracts, radiation sickness, and reproductive problems that can affect the health of the offspring.
These risks are of obvious relevance when planning a manned trip to Mars, as NASA is doing right now. The current plan is to send American astronauts to the red planet in just 12 years, so it’s important for NASA to understand the ways it can protect its crew.
In fact, once in space, astronauts will have no Earth magnetosphere to protect them. Even with protection, the crew will be exposed to solar energy particles and galactic cosmic rays, the latter being particularly harmful to human health.
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An international team of scientists recently investigated the issue to see if a round-trip mission to Mars could be too dangerous for humans and whether the timing of such missions could offset potential risks. Researchers from UCLA, MIT, GFZ Potsdam and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow participated in the to study, which now appears in the scientific journal Space Weather.
They made their calculations by referring to models of particle radiation within our solar system and models of how that radiation could affect human health and the state of a spacecraft. The results showed that a potential mission to the red planet should not exceed four years and that, “while space radiation imposes strict limitations and presents technological difficulties for the human mission to Mars, this mission is still viable,” the researchers in their study.
A key finding has to do with the timing of the mission. Scientists recommend that flights to Mars take off during the Sun. maximum solar, when solar activity is at its peak (December 2019 marked the previous solar minimum — the beginning of the current solar cycle — and the next solar maximum scheduled for July 2025). The solar maximum may seem like the worst possible time of departure, but galactic cosmic rays, the most dangerous of the energy particles, are deflected during periods of enhanced solar activity. And, in fact, galactic cosmic rays are minimal between six and twelve months after maximum solar activity, according to a UCLA Press release.
This is good news, as the average flight to Mars is around nine months. A trip back after about two years to Mars seems totally feasible. This would include time spent on the Martian surface, which it is not protected by a magnetosphere. Missions to Mars that last more than four years will require protective measures, such as better shielding, underground habitats, and possibly even biological interventions.
The next best windows for the shortest flights to Mars will appear in 2030 and again in 2050, with the two departure dates corresponding to periods of maximum solar, according to research. Interestingly, “for the previous solar cycle, the smallest effective dose would have accumulated for a flight that would begin in 2000, during the maximum solar temperature,” the scientists write.
Another key finding of the study has to do with the thickness of the protective shield of the spacecraft. The researchers found that a thick guard would protect the crew, but only to a point. Beyond a certain thickness threshold, the shield would only serve to amplify the incoming radiation, which would bounce off the radiation inside the spacecraft. Aluminum shielding with the designated optimal thickness would expose astronauts to 0.5 sieverts during 1.9-year missions, while the maximum allowable career dose for 1 siever astronauts would accumulate after a flight. 3.8-year-old, according to the study, co-author of UCLA geophysicist Yuri Shprits.
As the researchers admit, however, their analysis was limited to aluminum shielding. “Composite materials, including hydrogen-rich compounds, have often been discussed for use in deep-space habitats,” they write. “Materials such as a carbon compound with a significant hydrogen content can improve protection and allow for longer flight times, as materials containing light elements result in lower secondary fluxes. [i.e. bounced] particles “.
So this is good news, but it shows the amount of work that needs to be done to protect astronauts during long-term missions. The new document does not even go into the harmful effects of microgravity, which is also very bad for human health. We are very motivated to explore and live on Mars, but making it safe will be a formidable challenge.
Month: NASA’s simulated mission to Mars for a year would probably kick you off.