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The amount of radiation exposure that astronauts would be exposed to on a journey to Mars alone, let alone the return trip, is a major concern that must be addressed. On Earth, we are protected from cell-damaging cosmic rays by a blanketing atmosphere; even astronauts in low Earth orbit enjoy some protection from the magnetic field surrounding the planet. Astronauts on an interplanetary mission would be totally exposed; perhaps they could carry some sort of lead shielding or water-jacketing around crew compartments, although that would come with a huge mass penalty in increased fuel. Even then, really energetic cosmic rays would zip right through almost unimpeded; Apollo astronauts reported periodic flashes in their vision as cosmic rays interacted inside the fluid in their eyeballs. Any successful mission to Mars would be an astronaut�s last journey into space, as they would have exceeded the maximum limit for a lifetime of radiation exposure. One school of thought is that it may be better to send 40- or 50-year-olds who have already had children, as they will likely succumb to natural causes before the radiation exposure catches up to them. The Mars Science Laboratory also carries an experiment on board known as RAD, or the Radiation Assessment Detector which seeks to characterize the radiation environment both during its journey and during its primary mission of one Martian year (687 days) on Mars.
As during Apollo, making the journey during a period of solar minimum could minimize solar radiation, but there�s no guarantee that the Sun wouldn�t throw off an out-of-season flare unannounced. Paradoxically, when solar wind pressure is at an ebb in the inner solar system, cosmic ray penetration also increases. Astronauts would have scant warning from solar observatories that the really energetic gamma and X-rays were inbound; exposure could be limited somewhat by having a heavily shielded �storm shelter� for use in such situations. Another idea includes having a second spacecraft flying in tandem as a sort of �solar storm occulting disk� or having the water-jacketing protecting the spacecraft serve double duty as recycled water for consumption. A manned mission to Mars would be a technical tour-de-force, but as the great interest in the landing of Curiosity has demonstrated, it would also engage the imagination of mankind like no other space mission before
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