Private research solves radiation issues

(, 10-3)

Human exploration of Mars need not stop before it starts, though. Space agencies and private companies are actively working to mitigate space radiation. An Israeli startup is developing a body vest designed to more fully absorb radiation, for example, and one NASA scientist recently pitched the idea of deploying a satellite that’d serve as an artificial magnetic shield to divert harmful radiation around Mars. And as the researchers noted in their study, “significant differences” exist between mouse-model cancer rates and those actually seen in people. “These differences could limit the applicability of the predictions described in this paper,” they wrote. But the scientists add that this knowledge gap is precisely why future deep-space explorers and their respective agencies should exercise caution. “[S]tudies … are urgently needed prior to long-term space missions outside the protection of the Earth’s geomagnetic sphere,” they said.