A round trip to Mars will expose space travelers to dangerously high levels of solar radiation that is estimated to shorten their lifespan by two years and a half, a research has found.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2018) A round trip to Mars will expose space travelers to dangerously high levels of solar radiation that is estimated to shorten their lifespan by two years and a half, a research has found.
The report, seen by Sputnik, on how solar energetic particles might affect cosmonauts on a mission to Mars will be unveiled at the conference on space biology and aerospace medicine underway in Moscow.
"Assessments have been made of the impact that radiation, received during a long flight to Mars of up to three years during peak solar activity and with varying density of aluminum protection, might have on a cosmonaut's total lifespan," the report reads.
The study concluded that a standard human organism traveling to the Mars orbit at a high velocity inside a simple spherical spacecraft "on a two-year expedition to Mars and back [will be exposed to] a combined radiation risk during their lifetime, regardless of age, behind a radiation shield of 20 grams per square centimeter, estimated at 7.5 percent, with an average lifespan reduction of 2.5 years."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March that a manned mission to Mars was one of the country's goals, alongside lunar and deep space exploration. Last year, Russian scientists began psychological experiments to see how a mixed crew of people from different countries can fare in simulated isolation.
