New discoveries are making NASA's hopes of conquering Mars difficult to succeed

NASA will be forced to find solutions before officially sending people to Mars.

Space travel has many potential risks. One of the most serious problems is the possibility of causing cancer, because astronauts will have to be exposed to cosmic rays - something that could cause disruption to human cells and cause a stroke. variable at the DNA level.

These risks, the astronauts must understand and accept. However, the recent finding shows that astronauts' risk of cancer is twice as high as estimated.

The mission to conquer Mars will make astronaut's cancer risk twice higher than the estimated number.

"Exploring Mars is a task that lasts at least 900 days, including more than a year of" swimming "in the universe - where radiation exposure is inevitable" - Francis Cucinotta, radiation professor and space physics at Nevada University.

Under the plan, NASA plans to bring people to Mars by 2030. And the problem is that NASA must deal with the health risks that the astronauts have to carry out.

Beyond the Earth's magnetic field is a massive amount of radiation.

The harmful effects of cosmic radiation are not just cancer. It can cause cataracts, circulatory disorders, acute radiation . Even worse is the Cucinotta - protective "coat" around the spacecraft that only slightly reduces the risk.

But how high is that risk?It will depend on the calculation model, and the thickness of the spacecraft ! The new University of Nevada study is based on data from a number of other studies in mice, which showed that 8-9% of tumors developed after only 1 year of exposure to cosmic radiation.

However, even cells that do not come into direct contact with radiation are infected. The study offers 3 scenarios based on different models and thicknesses. The first is 12% - 13%, then 16% - 18%, and finally 20% - 25%.

Carrying out a 900-day trip to Mars will put the crew's risk of radiation extremely high.

" Cosmic rays can destroy the cell nucleus, mutate and create cancer, " Cucinotta said. "We found damaged cells can send signals to healthy cells around. These signals tend to make healthy cells mutate, causing metastasis."

According to Cucinotta, experts need to accelerate the study of radiation in the universe and its impact on the human body, before taking anyone out of the Earth's magnetic field.

Currently, NASA is still working on radiation studies thanks to Curiosity robots operating on Mars. For example, in 2013, based on the Curiosity data, experts set up a model that estimates the time: 180 days of moving to Mars, 180 days of returning to Earth, of 500 days of duty. on the surface of the planet.

Curiosity autonomous robot.

NASA said this scenario could cause astronauts to infect a radioactive unit (sievert), equivalent to the radioactive limit during their career on the ISS space station. Infection with 1 sievert radiation, cancer risk increased by 5%, while NASA's limit was only 3%.

The study is published in Scientific Reports.