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MARS TRAVEL HAZARDS
By Sean Henahan, Access Excellence
Cancer and brain damage are two potential risks associated with long-term exposure to the kind of high-energy galactic cosmic rays interplanetary astronauts would encounter. The problem is, very little research has been done on the degree of danger this radiation poses or on what kind of protective shielding would be needed. And it is not likely that such research will ever be done unless $10 billion or more can be budgeted to the project, the NRC panel says. Conducting the needed physical and biological research will require significant access to ground-based particle accelerator facilities that can generate high-energy particles like those that will bombard a craft in deep space. Even if adequate facilities, staff, and funding were devoted immediately to this research, it would probably take more than a decade to answer questions about health risks and the needed protective shielding. At NASA's current rate of research in this area, more than 20 years will be needed to provide adequate data. This could delay a Mars mission beyond the next quarter century, or may result in use of excess shielding and therefore higher costs than necessary. The NRC report suggests NASA explore a number of possibilities for increasing the time that is allotted to the needed research at appropriate particle accelerator facilities. These options include reserving more time at a currently operating facility, expanding existing facilities, building a new accelerator dedicated to this research, or collaborating on international studies conducted at overseas accelerator facilities. Wherever the research is done, a number of important questions need to be answered, the report says. These include:
The study was funded by NASA. The National Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. It is a private, non-profit institution that provides science and technology advice under a congressional charter. A task-group roster follows. Copies of "RADIATION HAZARDS TO CREWS OF INTERPLANETARY
MISSIONS: BIOLOGICAL ISSUES AND RESEARCH STRATEGIES" will be available
in February 1997 from the National Academy Press; tel. (202) 334-3313 or
1-800-624-6242.
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Washington, D.C. (1/20/97)
The discovery of what appear to be ancient bacterial fossils on a Martian
meteorite may be leading NASA to reconsider the idea of a manned mission
to the red planet. But such a trip won't be possible unless scientists first
determine a way to protect the astronauts from the radiation hazards associated
with such a trip, according to a new study from the National Research Council.
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