Research proves: Astronauts will not die from space radiation

Many argue that excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays from the Sun is a career hazard that astronauts suffer, which can easily lead to cancer and heart disease. While recent research has shown that astronauts will not die as soon as we think, scientists still have to warn that long-term performance space tasks are likely to pose serious risks.

A new study published on Scientific Reports has found no link between exposure to space radiation and the increased risk of cancer or cardiovascular death in astronauts. Not to mention that this discovery is positive, this is indeed an unexpected result because it has long been thought that exposure to harmful ionizing rays will eventually affect astronauts, causing disease later and cause premature death.

The lead author of this study, Robert Reynolds from California Research and Mortality Advisory Group, warns that tasks are done over a long period of time and away from the Earth to protect the Earth, for example. as missions in Mars, potentially causing harm and shortening life expectancy.

Among American astronauts, there are 30% of deaths from cancer and less than 15% of deaths from heart disease.

In the paper, Reynolds and colleagues conducted statistical analysis of public historical data. A total of 418 individuals who flew into space were included in the study, including 301 American astronauts and 117 Russian astronauts.

The study has evaluated all NASA astronauts since 1959 and Soviet / Russian astronauts since 1961: all of these people have experienced space flight before July / 2018 for American astronauts and December 2017 for Russian astronauts. The average follow-up time for American astronauts is 24 years and 25 years for Russian astronauts.

A total of 89 deaths were recorded, of which 53 were American astronauts and 36 Russian astronauts. These people all died from various causes, but Reynolds and the research team only noticed two causes of death: cancer and cardiovascular disease , since these two factors are likely to be related to exposure. radiation exposure . Among American astronauts, there are 30% of deaths from cancer and less than 15% of deaths from heart disease. For Russian astronauts, the statistics are slightly different when half of these people die from heart disease and 28% of cancer deaths.

The above figures are both high and alarming, but according to Reynolds's analysis, these figures are not unusual. There is no trend or any obstacle found in the data to indicate a common cause of death, namely exposure to radiation. The authors of the study concluded: " If ionizing radiation affects the risk of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease, this effect is also negligible ."

A round trip to Mars will make astronauts reach two-thirds of the allowed radiation exposure.

However, according to the authors, this is "historical radiation waves in history" . In addition to Apollo missions, astronauts hovering in low Earth orbit will still be protected by the Earth's magnetic field. When astronauts explore the universe further, the situation will change markedly in the excerpt noted in the following paper:

" We need to be aware that missions that explore deep into space can bring a much greater amount of space radiation than before, leading to other risks for future astronauts. In the coming years, epidemiologists need to continue to monitor astronauts to find potential harmful effects of exposure to space radiation by both classical and modern methods. This essential work will support human ambition in the mission of exploring and realizing our solar system . "

Unfortunately, the mission to Mars can take many years of one's life, limiting the development of specially shielded space suits. NASA research since 2013 has concluded that, if not fully protected, Mars astronauts will be severely hurt by the large amount of radiation detected from each one about a full CT scan. week / time for the whole year.

Therefore, a round trip to Mars will make astronauts reach two-thirds of the allowed radiation exposure. This issue has not taken into account the time on the Martian surface when astronauts face the thin atmosphere and weak magnetic fields.

Although recent research encourages astronauts to embark on a mission to fly around low Earth orbit, to accomplish the more risky mission, we will need to find possible solutions.