Re: Cosmic radiation could thwart space colonization


"Jeff Findley" <jeff.findley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:74655$47f4f69b$927a2cda$6565@xxxxxxxxxxx

"Enough Already" <enough_already@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:48644646-567b-4ba9-94c2-a5feee8cb217@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKN3139657820080401:

"Cosmic rays are so dangerous and so poorly understood that people are
unlikely to get to Mars or even back to the moon until better ways are
found to protect astronauts, experts said on Monday."

<snip>

Thanks, Jeff, it's good to see this thread returned to
its seriously important topic. Which topic is not so
very serious as it sounds. The point is, a wide gray
area exists between 'radiation' and 'no radiation,'
and one achieves the noisiest thread by ignoring the
broad middle and the best thread by examining it.

From this point of view I saw nothing new in the thread
down to here. That stuff has been around for years.
And it's worth mentioning, people have lived out there
for up to a year (if inside our magnetosphere's cover).
I believe this topic is old and mature enough, that
these people would contribute most if they would think
about *how* people will go out into space. If they
would get down to planning and designs and numbers on
how people would do that. Else they risk leaving to
future readers only a convincing demonstration of
extended simpleminded vacuous blattering.

My thinking about the future brings me to expect very
few people will actually live in space, and when they
do, it will be for the shortest possible time. The
ISS is an anomaly, no good for the long run. People
will rather, live inside something in space: a few
meters under Luna surface; a few meters inside the
near Terra orbiting asteroids where they will be busy
mining out materials for processing and to be finally
dropped back down to Terra.

Another point I think needs much more attention is
just that *humans are mortal*, each one dies in a few
decades at most. We each one of us lives until we
die and getting some radiation in space, won't change
that. A few fewer years, but Robert Zubrin points
out that if you send cigarette smokers into space,
their not getting that tobacco will extend their
lives more than the radiation will shorten them.
So if someone reads around a little (as I suspect
many here do not or cannot do) then they can find
Zubrin's point that the radiation hazard in space is
less than the chemical hazard of tobacco to its
users. And that settled, devote themselves to
*getting something done.*

So I'd like to see a little intellectual work here,
of an easy variety; and no more of that Gee-Golly-
Whiz stuff, oh my, "Cosmic radiation could thwart
space colonization."

Titeotwawki -- mha [sci.space.policy 2008 Apr 03]


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Cosmic radiation could thwart space colonization
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    (sci.space.policy)
  • Cosmic rays may prevent long-haul space travel
    ... The radiation encountered on a journey to Mars and back could well kill ... The crew of any mission to Mars would also suffer increased risks of eye ... Cosmic rays, which come from outer space and solar flares, are now regarded ... as a potential limiting factor for space travel. ...
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  • Re: A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The Moon
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