Less radiation than expected on Mars mission

Astronauts are less exposed to radiation than expected on Mars mission

12/11/2013

The radiation that would be exposed to astronauts on a mission to Mars is less than previously expected. The calculated scientist of the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel (CAU) in cooperation with researchers from NASA, the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and the German Aerospace Center. The cancer risk due to the radiation exposure is therefore increased by about five percent. Data from the radiation monitor RAD (Radiation Assessment Detector) aboard the Marsrovers „Curiosity“ formed the basis for the calculation.

Mars missionary radiation increases cancer risk by about five percent
The researchers assumed exposure to radiation during a 500-day stay in Mars. At the current solar activity the astronauts would be exposed to a radiation dose of 0.32 Sievert. On the return journey, another 0.66 Sievert would be in a shuttle with the same shielding over which „Curiosity“ decreed to come. „Thus, the total load is slightly above the limit of approximately 0.8 Sievert, which may be exposed to astronauts throughout their career“, informs the CAU. The increased by about five percent cancer risk is small compared to that of a smoker. „Smoking, for example, increases the risk of developing lung cancer by about 1,500 percent, "the university reports.

„The data obtained is an important step in the realization of a manned mission to Mars and can help protect astronauts on future missions, for example, by better shielding the spacecraft or providing safe shelter on Mars“, explains Professor Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber of the CAU. The data can also be used for an estimation to find out how long and how deep in the soil organisms on Mars could survive. „In addition, how long signatures of past life can still be detected in the surface layers“, it says in the message. (Ag)

Image: Ingo Merbeth