Astronauts could survive the
elevated radiation levels on the surface of Mars, according to a NASA
expert.
(NASA)
|
Astronauts on a future mission to Mars could survive radiation levels on the Red Planet's surface, according to a NASA expert.
At a recent press briefing, the scientist in charge of monitoring radiation data collected by the Curiosity Mars rover said energy levels on the planet's surface fluctuate with time of day and the season but are roughly equivalent to what astronauts experience now in the International Space Station.
"Absolutely, astronauts can live in this environment," said Don Hassler, of Boulder, Colo.'s, Southwest Research Institute. Hassler is the principal investigator for Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD.
More - Link >>> http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-mars-radiation-20121116,0,1001455.story?track=rss
Source: Los Angeles Times.
gaw
Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://friendsofthezeiss.org >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
About the Author: < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#GAW >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
< http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.
Twitter: < http://twitter.com/
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
< http://www.planetarium.
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
< http://adlerplanetarium.
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
< http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
< http://www.andrewcarnegie.
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
< http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
< http://inclinedplane.tripod.
* Public Transit:
< http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.
How interesting that scientists now acknowledge what has been obvious for years. It was always a mystery that radiation levels that were bearable in Earth orbit were somehow boosted to potentially lethal levels at the surface of Mars.
ReplyDeleteIt just didn't compute...