Four-Year Mission to Mars Would Bypass Radiation-Related Health Risks, New Study Finds

Four-Year Mission to Mars Would Bypass Radiation-Related Health Risks, New Study Finds
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We’re all tempted to believe that judging by the enormous technological progress that the world has been through since it sent astronauts to the Moon about 50 years ago, going to Mars would be a piece of cake. But unfortunately for us, the laws of nature don’t forget anyone.

A trip to Mars could imply plenty of unwanted and unforeseen scenarios. The level of radiation, for instance, would be a bit too much to handle. The health of astronauts could be affected in plenty of ways on their way to the Red Planet. But luckily, there’s no reason to lose hope yet.

How to bypass the deadly radiation that lands on Mars

According to a new study published in SpaceWeather, a research team from the University of California, Los Angeles, has come with a pretty peculiar idea. They claim that it would be safe for the astronauts to get exposed to the radiation levels from Mars as long as their mission lasts a maximum of four years.

Source: Pixabay
Source: Pixabay

There is no shielding technology for protecting at least spaceships from radiation. The researchers modeled the amount of radiation that astronauts would get exposed to on a trip to Mars and back using current shielding. The researchers concluded that using thick shielding would be a good idea for keeping astronauts safe. Also, making a shielding that’s too thick would be even dangerous.

Yuri Shprits, who’s a research geophysicist and also a co-author of the study paper, declared as quoted by UCLA:

This study shows that while space radiation imposes strict limitations on how heavy the spacecraft can be and the time of launch, and it presents technological difficulties for human missions to Mars, such a mission is viable.

NASA plans to send humans to the Moon once again by 2025 during the Artemis mission. If it is successful, Mars will be the next destination.


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Even since he was a child, Cristian was staring curiously at the stars, wondering about the Universe and our place in it. Today he's seeing his dream come true by writing about the latest news in astronomy. Cristian is also glad to be covering health and other science topics, having significant experience in writing about such fields.

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