Mars Odyssey measurements of radiation at Mars

Space radiation poses significant risks to human explorers on extended missions beyond Low-Earth Orbit. Crews cannot be fully shielded against Galactic Cosmic Rays owing to their high energies, and sporadic but intense Solar Particle Events may also be hazardous when shielding is minimal. The physics underlying the transport of these particles through matter is reasonably well understood, but the biological response has large uncertainties. In this talk I will give an overview of these risks and describe NASA's ongoing program to mitigate them.

Speaker: Cary Zeitlin