2 replies to this topic

[scottl]

http://www.newscient...le.ns?id=dn7753

Cosmic rays may prevent long-haul space travel
15:01 01 August 2005

The radiation encountered on a journey to Mars and back could well kill space travellers, experts have warned. Astronauts would be bombarded by so much cosmic radiation that one in 10 of them could die from cancer.

The crew of any mission to Mars would also suffer increased risks of eye cataracts, loss of fertility and genetic defects in their children, according to a study by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Cosmic rays, which come from outer space and solar flares, are now regarded as a potential limiting factor for space travel. "I do not see how the problem of this hostile radiation environment can be easily overcome in the future," says Keran O'Brien, a space physicist from Northern Arizona University, US ...

[bgwowk]

The radiation encountered on a journey to Mars and back could well kill space travellers, experts have warned. Astronauts would be bombarded by so much cosmic radiation that one in 10 of them could die from cancer.

As opposed to the one in 3 of the rest of us. As if these people are the first to sit down with a calculator and BEIR tables in the 40+ years of manned space flight. Gimme a break.

At the rate manned space flight is progressing, cancer will have been cured so many times over by the time there is a Mars mission that debates then will be about how long astronauts can survive on the surface of Io.

---BrianW

[Lazarus Long]

At the rate manned space flight is progressing, cancer will have been cured so many times over by the time there is a Mars mission that debates then will be about how long astronauts can survive on the surface of Io.

Sadly Brian at the rate manned deep space tech is progressing we will see cryo reanimation (and may have to) by the time there is a manned Mars mission.

Many argue that longevity brings about risk aversion that will lead to the doom of our species.

I suggest they are blaming the victims, it is tort liability and the media that are leading to risk aversion not longer life spans. We are approaching a breakpoint where our culture is going to either go beyond this bottleneck or simply make itself obsolete in favor of other more dynamic (vital) cultures.