All articles tagged with #space radiation
A study by the Medical College of Wisconsin warns that deep-space radiation could cause progressive heart scarring and immune system decline in astronauts, potentially manifesting years after a Mars mission.
StemRad's AstroRad vest, a wearable radiation shield designed to protect bone marrow-rich tissues, was tested on NASA’s Artemis I mission around the Moon. Using dosimeters and simulations, the vest reduced a 1972-style solar-storm dose by about 60% and a harder 1989-style event by about 40%, performing comparably to the Orion storm shelter but without restricting movement. Weighing 26 kg (with optimizations bringing it to 16 kg), the vest uses hexagonal HDPE rods to stay flexible, but it offers little protection against galactic cosmic rays. Real-world validation would require a real solar storm; researchers aim to further reduce weight while preserving protection.
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station report seeing flashes of light with eyes closed caused by high-energy cosmic rays passing through their bodies, either directly ionizing the retina or via Cherenkov radiation. Historical experiments (SilEye/ALTEA) linked particle tracks to the flashes, confirming the phenomenon and highlighting space radiation as a detectable, personal readout of exposure and a major shielding challenge for long-duration missions.
Apollo astronauts trying to sleep en route to the Moon saw brief, colorless flashes linked to cosmic rays passing through the eye; Apollo 16/17 detectors tied particle tracks to the reports, supporting retinal ionization and related mechanisms, though the exact biophysics remains debated. The finding highlights that deep-space radiation can be perceptible and poses a concern for long-duration missions beyond Earth.
A JetBlue flight's sudden altitude drop was caused by cosmic ray-induced bit flips in its computer systems, leading Airbus to recall over 6,000 aircraft for software and hardware updates to prevent similar incidents caused by space radiation affecting microchips in fly-by-wire systems.
A growing weak spot in Earth's magnetic field called the South Atlantic Anomaly could cause satellite malfunctions, blackouts, and increased radiation exposure for spacecraft and astronauts, with the anomaly expanding significantly since 2014 due to changes at the Earth's core boundary.
Recent research suggests that some organic molecules detected in plumes from Saturn's moon Enceladus may be produced by natural space radiation rather than originating from the moon's subsurface ocean, complicating the assessment of its habitability.
NASA's Artemis 2 mission will serve as a platform for studying the effects of deep space on human health, with astronauts acting as subjects for experiments on sleep, stress, immune response, and radiation, while also testing innovative biomedical technologies like organ-on-a-chip devices, to better understand and prepare for long-duration space travel beyond low Earth orbit.
NASA's Artemis II mission will carry the AVATAR experiment, using organ-on-a-chip devices containing astronaut cells to study the effects of deep space radiation and microgravity on human health, aiming to improve astronaut protection and advance personalized medicine.
NASA's Artemis II mission will serve as both a test flight and a scientific research platform, with astronauts acting as subjects to study the effects of deep space on human health, immune response, and performance, while also exploring the Moon and testing new technologies like organ-on-a-chip and radiation sensors to inform future lunar and Mars missions.
Russia's Bion-M No. 2 mission, launching in August 2025, will study the effects of space radiation and microgravity on mice, fruit flies, and lunar simulants to advance understanding of space biology and future lunar construction, with a focus on long-term space travel health risks.
Living beyond Earth is currently deemed impossible due to significant challenges such as human health risks from microgravity and radiation, lack of breathable atmosphere on other celestial bodies, and the immense technical and financial hurdles of building sustainable habitats in space or on planets like Mars and the Moon. While concepts like space habitats and in-situ resource utilization are being explored, the human body's adaptation and protection from space hazards remain major obstacles.
Astronomers using Cheops and TESS have discovered that the exoplanet HIP 67522 b, which orbits a young, active star, appears to trigger intense stellar flares that erode its wispy atmosphere, potentially leading to its transformation from a Jupiter-sized to a Neptune-sized planet within 100 million years, marking the first evidence of a planet influencing its host star's magnetic activity.
Space radiation poses a significant challenge for long-duration space missions, with solar events and galactic cosmic rays presenting different threats. While passive shielding is effective against solar events, it is inadequate for protecting against high-energy cosmic rays. Active shielding, which deflects charged particles like Earth's magnetic field, is a promising solution but has been difficult to implement. Earth's natural shielding system, consisting of its magnetic field, atmosphere, and planetary mass, provides significant protection, but replicating this in space is challenging. Developing miniaturized, portable active shielding technology may be the key to protecting astronauts on future deep space missions.
A recent study by an international team of scientists has highlighted the potential impact of prolonged space travel on the human gut microbiome, emphasizing the increased stress from microgravity and space radiation, including Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR). The researchers recommend further research to understand the risks associated with the space environment and suggest using the International Space Station (ISS) as an ideal environment for testing the human microbiome response to space radiation and microgravity. They stress the need for additional research to estimate the magnitude of adaptation in microorganisms before crewed deep-space exploration can be realized, as it has the potential to identify potential pathogens and develop strategies to prevent their spread during missions.