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Isn't the problem more those occasional solar flares than steady-state cosmic radiation? All longterm spaceflight so far has been inside the van Allen belts wh
by scrumper 9y ago
Isn't the problem more those occasional solar flares than steady-state cosmic radiation? All longterm spaceflight so far has been inside the van Allen belts which offer quite a bit of protection (for us on earth too).
- Robotbeat 9y agoThe solar flares' radiation is relatively easy to shield against. You can arrange your food and water supplies to provide temporary shielding. Even a very small amount of shielding (like simply being inside a spacecraft) will stop the worst effects. Here's a graph showing some really bad solar flares and how aluminum (which is a terrible shielding material compared to food and water) reduces the dose: http://www.bioedonline.org/slides/content-slides/space-life-sciences/radiation-effects/?pageaction=displaySlideDetails&tk=56&dpg=13 http://www.bioedonline.org/slides/content-slides/space-life-...
- scrumper 9y agoOK interesting, thanks for sharing. Shielding in general does seem to be a real issue for any spaceflight beyond LEO though; perhaps not as bad as I'd thought.