If we sent astronauts to Mars now, they would almost certainly die – BGR

Humanity seems destined to one day set foot on Mars. NASA and other space agencies around the world already have big plans to send humans to the Red Planet, but we're not about to lock human travelers on a ship and send them into the historic trip.

As explained by the European Space Agency in a new blog post, it's not just about having rocket and spacecraft technology to push a crewed capsule onto Mars; it is the fact that whoever we send on mission today would almost certainly never live long enough to return to Earth. The killer? Radiation.

Even astronauts who spend time aboard the International Space Station receive a tremendous amount of cosmic radiation compared to their counterparts back on Earth. A mission on Mars and, potentially, a return to Earth would probably be a suicide mission even if the travelers returned to Earth in one piece.

"In the current state of things, we can not go to Mars because of radiation. It would be impossible to respect the acceptable dose limits, "explains Marco Durante, a physicist at ESA. "The real problem is the great uncertainty surrounding the risks. We do not understand spatial radiation very well and the long-term effects are unknown. "

But if the spatial radiation is so bad, how can we ever travel in the cosmos? Scientists are working on a range of possible solutions to the problem, including a special shield that could protect a crewed spacecraft from radiation levels that researchers say would hurt travelers on long-haul missions.

Experiments on the International Space Station have also provided a better understanding of the human body's response to cosmic radiation. NASA's twin study compared the biological effects of space travel between identical twins, revealing changes in the sibling's DNA in space and suggesting dramatic changes in the body. human when exposed to prolonged time.

Over time, the missions to Mars will be possible from a technological point of view – from 2030 and beyond, according to many experts – we will better understand the threats posed by cosmic radiation and hopefully , some solutions to protect travelers from space.

Source of image: MarsOne