Ever since I can remember one of the big obstacles mentioned for a manned trip to Mars was the amount of radiation the astronauts would encounter. Well it looks like the readings the Curiosity rover have been taking indicate that isnt as much of a problem as we expected. And those are readings that were taken from an unprotected craft. Obviously anything carrying humans will have the best shielding available at the time. But even barring that, a 5% increase in your risk of cancer seems more than acceptable for something as momentous as traveling to Mars. There are obviously still a number of hurdles, but at least this particular one doesnt seem that daunting anymore. Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=radiation-on-mars-managea
Thanks. I've been wondering about this. I'm also wondering how Mars One is planning to deal with long-term radiation exposure.
I'll rain on the parade just a little. That's just one trip, the sun might not have been active. You need an average of several trips, and even then it only takes one big flare. Also, good shielding is nearly necessarily heavy, yes? OTOH it's good news from space. Hard to feel bad about that I think we ought to find REASONS for manned space travel though. Once we have a reason to send men and not robots, we will..
Bravo ! And consider the sun has missed its' mark for a "sunspot" season. Its' radiation output is lower with less sunspots. And of course they are "directional", so one unlucky hit - and I don't think they have created adequate shielding for such an event. Ours is "magnetic shielding", remember? Moi No
