it's not just "fraught with risk"it's physically impossible with current technology for humans to survive a trip to Mars and live on the surfacespace really, really wants to kill lifecosmic rays will kill humans before they even make it to Marsthere is no current technology that shields from cosmic rayswe should appreciate the earth greatly for its atmosphere and magnetosphere that shields us from thembest emulation idea so far is to surround astronauts with several feet of waterbut we don't have the lift capacity for that much water weightthe total time on the moon outside the capsule per person maximum was 22 hoursthe astronauts kept seeing bursts of light even with their eyes closedwhen NASA inspected the helmets there were microscopic groove where some had made it all the way throughcosmic rays are physical particles traveling near the speed of lightthe bursts of light were their nerves and other cells being destroyed by the cosmic raysit was happening to their brains and CNS toomice exposed to simulated cosmic rays became slow and stupid
> there is no current technology that shields from cosmic raysHydrogels.<a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/For_astronaut_radiation_protection_just_add_water" rel="nofollow">https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Techn...
neatbut it's at least a decade away from practical use<a href="https://m.xkcd.com/678/" rel="nofollow">https://m.xkcd.com/678/
ck2 · · focus · HN ↗
it's physically impossible with current technology for humans to survive a trip to Mars and live on the surface
space really, really wants to kill life
cosmic rays will kill humans before they even make it to Mars
there is no current technology that shields from cosmic rays
we should appreciate the earth greatly for its atmosphere and magnetosphere that shields us from them
best emulation idea so far is to surround astronauts with several feet of water
but we don't have the lift capacity for that much water weight
the total time on the moon outside the capsule per person maximum was 22 hours
the astronauts kept seeing bursts of light even with their eyes closed
when NASA inspected the helmets there were microscopic groove where some had made it all the way through
cosmic rays are physical particles traveling near the speed of light
the bursts of light were their nerves and other cells being destroyed by the cosmic rays
it was happening to their brains and CNS too
mice exposed to simulated cosmic rays became slow and stupid
delichon · · focus · HN ↗
Hydrogels.
<a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/For_astronaut_radiation_protection_just_add_water" rel="nofollow">https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Techn...
ck2 · · focus · HN ↗
but it's at least a decade away from practical use
<a href="https://m.xkcd.com/678/" rel="nofollow">https://m.xkcd.com/678/