A Mission To Mars Could Cause Astronaut Brain Damage

January 3, 2013 | Filed under: BizTechNews | Posted by:

astronaut

Researchers are now saying that a trip to Mars could be very unhealthy for any astronauts who are “lucky” enough to go.  They say that the cosmic radiation pounding their brains during the trip could cause the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Galactic cosmic radiation poses a significant threat to future astronauts,” says M. Kerry O’Banion, a professor in the University of Rochester Medical Center department of neurobiology and anatomy.
“The possibility that radiation exposure in space may give rise to health problems such as cancer has long been recognized. However, this study shows for the first time that exposure to radiation levels equivalent to a mission to Mars could produce cognitive problems and speed up changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.”
While space is full of radiation, the earth’s magnetic field generally protects the planet and people in low earth orbit from these particles. However, once astronauts leave orbit, they are exposed to constant shower of various radioactive particles.

With appropriate warning, astronauts can be shielded from dangerous radiation associated with solar flares. But there are also other forms of cosmic radiation that, for all intents and purposes, cannot be effectively blocked.

Because this radiation exists in low levels, the longer an astronaut is in deep space, the greater the exposure. This is a concern for NASA as the agency is planning manned missions to a distant asteroid in 2021 and to Mars in 2035. The round trip to the red planet, in particular, could take as long as three years.

READ MORE

Comments

comments

Share This Post

One Response to A Mission To Mars Could Cause Astronaut Brain Damage

  1. Might I ask, was this same cosmic radiation a problem in those trips to the moon? I should state that I do not know anything about the science of space travel. But, wasn’t that what the conspiracy theorists said about the trip to the moon, that humans could live through that radiation? I’m just saying.

    Bahati Sobukwe
    January 4, 2013 at 1:37 am
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect with Facebook

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>