View inside the 120-meter long accelerator UNILAC at GSI.
Credit: G. Otto
GSI PRESS RELEASE
ESA has chosen the GSI accelerator facility in Germany to assess radiation risks that astronauts will be exposed to on a Mars mission. GSI was selected because its accelerator is the only one in Europe able to create ion beams similar to those found in space.
To determine possible health risks of manned space flights, scientists from all over Europe have been asked to investigate the effects of ion beams in human cells and organs. The first experiments will be launched this year and subsequently continued at GSI’s planned FAIR accelerator system.
Continue reading ‘ESA to Study Radiation Risk to Astronauts on Mars Trips’
In a potential blow to NASA’s human spaceflight efforts, the National Research Council released a report today calling on the space agency to conduct more research on cosmic radiation before sending astronauts to the moon and Mars. NASA should not lower its radiation exposure standards to reach these goals.
The Committee on the Evaluation of Radiation Shielding for Space Exploration’s report (PDF) said the “lack of knowledge about the biological effects of and responses to space radiation is the single most important factor limiting prediction of radiation risk associated with human space exploration.”
As a result, prolonged operations on the moon could be curtailed. Mars exploration, which would require long transit times and stays on the the surface, could be ruled out entirely until scientists and engineers develop better ways of protecting astronauts.
The committee’s chairman, James van Hoften, told Reuters that NASA doesn’t fully understand the radiation risk, nor is the agency adequately funding research into how to properly protect astronauts. NASA is using old data, including research done on Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors.
Continue reading ‘NRC to NASA: Don’t Lower Radiation Standards for Lunar Missions’
Bad Astronomy is hosting the Carnival of Space, a regular collection of space-related articles. The 44th edition features just about everything you might want to know about the future of human exploration of Mars. Articles include:
Stuart Atkinson writes about the Red Planet’s changing landscape
Ian O’Neill discusses an early-warning system for solar flares to protect Martian colonists
Colony Worlds has a piece on radiation hazards on other planets
Ethan Siegel tells you why Mars colonists may go thirsty
Nancy Atkinson discusses one-way, one-person trip to the Red Planet
Next Big Future has a piece on how future explorers might travel to Mars using carbon nanotubes solar sails
Mars Odyssey reviews how ISS experience could help us build a Martian spaceship
And who will be first to Mars? Might it be an Indian or South Korean? Or a woman?
Check out these stories and more from the Carnival of Space at the Bad Astronomy site.