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I had sent this just to Phil, but here is the whole post:

The radiation experienced en-route to Mars would be high, but not
lethal. Greater long-term radiation exposure would result from spending
long periods in high Earth orbit and repeatedly passing through the
particle-channeling parts of the Earth's magnetic field, the Van Allen
or Vernov belts (If you've never heard of Vernov, look him up; a great
object lesson in the value of keeping science international and open.)
Details about that here:
http://www.aero.org/publications/crosslink/summer2003/02.html

The problem is "eruptions" from the Sun, such as coronal mass ejections.
CMEs last a few days and could probably be weathered in the space
equivalent of a tornado shelter. Rather than build a specialized
lead-lined room or shield the entire vessel, one idea is to use supplies
(like water) as part of the shielding material.

There is no one insurmountable technological hurdle to sending people to
Mars. It's just (after you ge the cash together) making system A more
efficient, system B cheaper, system C more reliable. There are some
designs which have to be built and tested (could we really rotate a ship
at the end of a long tether to generate a semblance of gravity?) But
major worries center around keeping people sane and healthy if they are
cut off from Earth for more than two years. Radiation protection is not
hard compared to bone loss, muscle atrophy, and isolation.

Here is a NASA document from 2001 which shows that we've been thinking
about this for a long time.
http://hedsadvprograms.nasa.gov/spaceexploration.html#placeswecouldgo

Going to Jupiter, of course... that's another story.

And BTW, while I think nuclear power is great for running space
missions, it's not a good idea to put into large-scale use on the
surface of the Earth. Space is unsafe, but that's only likely to affect
those on a mission. Nuclear waste is another story. And, yes... I say
that as someone whose computer and apartment are largely run by a
nuclear power plant ten miles away.


Marc Taylor
Coordinator, Andrus Planetarium
Hudson River Museum
511 Warburton Avenue
Yonkers, NY 10701
(914) 963-4550 x223
Fax:  963-8558
[log in to unmask]


-----Original Message-----
From: Informal Science Education Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of jdunn
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 3:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ISEN-ASTC-L Digest - 16 Jan 2004 to 17 Jan 2004 (#2004-17)


ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
************************************************************************
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Phil Edgerton wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
>
************************************************************************
*****
>
> I read recently that the problem of immense and deadly radioactivity
between
> here and Mars is not solvable by any mechanism currently known of or
even
> imagined. It's like the problem of nuclear energy. All the safety and
> economic debate about it is rendered moot by the fact that a byproduct
of it
> is a deadly poison whose half life is measured in the hundreds of
thousands
> of years. So most of the debate about humans going to Mars is rendered
moot
> by the fact that we can't withstand the radiation we would experience
in
> getting there.
>
> Phil Edgerton, The Health Adventure

Before the first missions in the 60's, the doctors were
sure that humans couldn't survive zero-g for any length
of time.   There were also adamant scientists who believed
the first Moon walkers would sink into the soil.
We are talking beyond 10 years here before
any humans would be venturing out into this region.
Give science and technology a chance.  If you think
any activity can be without risk, you are living
in a different universe.  I was walking across
a downtown intersection, minding my own business,
and in the crosswalk with the light - and got
hit by a student worrying about her final exams.
Life has risks.  Exploration has risks.  But to
claim all is impossible stifles the spirit.
It is also not a good way to approach science.

Clear DARK Skies,
--
Jack Dunn
Mueller Planetarium - UNL

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