Space Threat
Rebecca Mickol
In January 2004, President George W. Bush announced his new Vision for Space Exploration, with plans to return to the Moon by 2020, followed by manned missions to Mars by the year 2037 (Office of the Press Secretary, 2004). Michael Griffin, current administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is determined to comply. In preparation, NASA, as well as a private company named The Mars Society, has already sent crews to the Arctic on simulated Mars missions, involving seclusion and time delays between the crew and “mission control.” In spring 2008, the European Space Agency (ESA) is sending a crew of six to an isolated location in Russia for a 500-day simulated mission to Mars (European Space Agency, 2007). However, while the astronauts may be ready to extend the human presence permanently to the Moon, and eventually to Mars, neither NASA nor ESA has technology capable of protecting the astronauts from the most deadly presence in space: radiation. With insufficient studies regarding radiation and little technological progress in protection systems for astronauts, manned missions to the Moon or Mars are potentially lethal. According to Frank Borman, a retired Apollo 8 astronaut, “exploration is the essence of the human spirit.” This quotation wholly represents NASA’s aims and goals. With President Bush’s New Vision for Space Exploration, NASA has refocused its goals towards the successful establishment of a permanent human presence in space; specifically, the creation of habitats on the Moon and Mars. The Exploration Directorate accounts for 23% of NASA’s entire budget (Dunbar, 2007). However, there is more to the desire for exploration of space than just human curiosity. Recently, NASA administrator Michael Griffin noted that, “great nations occupy the frontier of their time” and if the United States (US) “fails to recognize the current frontier of space, the US will cease to be a great nation” (M. Griffin, personal communication, November 2, 2007). To maintain its status as a world leader, the United States must establish its presence on the frontier of space, to be accomplished through human exploration. Nevertheless, it would be disastrous for the United States to send astronauts into space without proper safety precautions that shelter astronauts from harmful radiation. Until these precautions are in place, manned missions to the Moon and Mars are death sentences. Above the protection of Earth’s atmosphere, astronauts are vulnerable to extremely highenergy particles. Radiation abounds in the solar system, arriving in the form of cosmic rays or other high-energy particles delivered by solar activity. The effect of radiation on human health is divided into two categories: acute and long-term. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet on acute radiation syndrome, immediate effects include skin damage (swelling, itching, and redness), vomiting/nausea, and dehydration, all of which can occur within minutes of exposure and last for days at a time. The person will then appear fine for a few days, followed by another bout of vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue, with the possibility of seizures or coma (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDCP], 2005). The chance of survival decreases with increasing radiation dose. Increased radiation damages bone marrow leading to infections, internal bleeding, and eventually, death (CDCP, 2005). Long-term effects involve the damage of DNA due to the passage of radiation through the cell, which ultimately leads to cell proliferation, a type of cancer (National Space Biomedical Research Institute, n.d.). The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) includes degenerative tissue damage, including damage to the central nervous system, on their list of health risks associated with radiation exposure (Wilson, 2007). However, the amount of radiation absorbed is not the only problem astronauts face. A study published by the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in September 2006.......continued in print edition.
