Current radiation limits will have to be exceeded if astronauts are to land on Mars - Indian Express

Reuters : Cape Canaveral, Fri May 31 2013, 11:48 hrs < /span> Radiation levels measured by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover show astronauts likely would exceed current U.S. exposure limits during a roundtrip mission to Mars, scientists said on Thursday. The rover landed on Mars in August to search for habitats that could have supported past microbial life. Results taken during Curiosity's eight-month cruise to Mars indicate that astronauts would receive a radiation dose of about 660 millisieverts during a 360-day roundtrip flight, the fastest travel possible with today's chemical rockets. That dosage does not include any time spent on the planet's surface. A millisievert is a measurement of radiation exposure. NASA limits astronauts' increased cancer risk to 3 percent, which translates to a cumulative radiation dose of between about 800 millisieverts and 1,200 millisieverts, depending on a person's age, gender and other factors. "Even for the shortest of (Mars) missions, we are perilously close to the radiation career and health limits that we've established for our astronauts," NASA's chief medical officer Richard Williams told a National Academy of Sciences' medical committee on Thursday. An astronaut living for six months on the International Space Station, which flies about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, receives a dosage of about 100 millisieverts. An abdominal X-ray scan generates about 10 millisieverts. At NASA's request, the Institute of Medicine panel is looking into ethics and health standards for long-duration spaceflights. "We're looking at that 3 percent standard and its applicability for exploration-type missions," added NASA's Edward Semones, spaceflight radiation health officer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, during a conference call later with reporters. "The snapshot today is that we would exceed our limit," Semones said. NASA also is looking into alternative propulsion technologies to speed up the trip to Mars and different types of spacecraft shielding. Information from Curiosity about how much and what type of radiation astronauts can expect on the Martian surface is due to be released later this year. ... contd. ALSO READ Intel scores major win in new Samsung Galaxy tablet: source Microsoft brings back 'start' button, seeks to spur Windows sales Google Inc coming out with two new Android phones Microsoft aims to set wrong things right with Windows 8.1 Please read our terms of use before posting comments TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s). via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHRLbQq8yrHn5h5rSeS-Cl7SuVEiw&url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/current-radiation-limits-will-have-to-be-exceeded-if-astronauts-are-to-land-on-mars/1123195/

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