Be Aware of Solar Flares: Potential Danger to Mars Explorers

Following the recent success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the astronomy community is filled with unprecedented excitement. Speculation has already begun regarding potential future accomplishments for India and the world. Among the numerous ideas for space exploration, one objective has consistently remained at the forefront: a manned mission to Mars, which could ultimately lead to the establishment of a colony on the red planet. However, a NASA scientist has cautioned that this aspiration may not be feasible in the foreseeable future due to the limitations of our current technology. The primary concern lies in the radiation emitted by solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME), which would prove fatal long before reaching Mars.

NASA scientist Dr. Michelle Thaller spoke with The US Sun and explained that our current technology simply isn’t enough to protect astronauts traveling to Mars. The biggest challenge is space radiation. On Earth, it protects us with the ozone layer and the upper atmosphere, which absorbs all hits of radiation to ensure that Earth doesn’t have to be exposed to them.

But there is nothing in space to protect people. On a journey that could take up to 9 months, avoiding radiation from solar flares and CMEs would be very difficult.

Solar flares can kill astronauts on their way to Mars

Although there is normal radiation in space anyway, the intensity of this radiation multiplies when a solar flare or a CME sweeps over a region of space. Recently, some researchers found a correlation between the death of Neptune’s clouds and increased solar activity. And if the sun can affect Neptune, the most distant planet in the solar system, it can certainly affect spacecraft between Earth and Mars.

This radiation is so powerful that it can cause radiation poisoning, various cancers, degenerative and genetic disorders, and even death.

And this could be a major limiter to the journey of Earthlings to Mars by 2050, the deadline SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has set himself to carry a million people to Mars. NASA astronaut Stan Love told The US Sun that there is simply no way to create on Mars. human settlement at that time.