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Space radiation can trigger cancer and cause damage to the central nervous system. Similar instruments are flown on the Space Shuttles and on the International Space Station (ISS), but none have ever flown outside Earth's protective magnetosphere, which blocks much of this radiation from reaching the surface of our planet.
On 31 May 2013, NASA scientists reported that a possible human mission to Mars may involve a great radiation risk based on the amount of energetic particle radiation detected by the RAD on the Mars Science Laboratory while traveling from the Earth to Mars in 2011-2012. [15] [16] [17] [18]
The atmosphere of Mars is colder than Earth’s owing to the larger distance from the Sun, receiving less solar energy and has a lower effective temperature, which is about 210 K (−63 °C; −82 °F). [2] The average surface emission temperature of Mars is just 215 K (−58 °C; −73 °F), which is comparable to inland Antarctica.
NASA's Curiosity rover has been exploring the Gale Crater on Mars since 2012, and in that time has come up with some astounding discoveries that suggest the Red Planet was somewhat Earth-like in ...
The difference in the concentration of dust in Earth's atmosphere and that of Mars stems from a key factor. On Earth, dust that leaves atmospheric suspension usually gets aggregated into larger particles through the action of soil moisture or gets suspended in oceanic waters. It helps that most of Earth's surface is covered by liquid water ...
Radiation exposure is a concern for astronauts even on the surface, as Mars lacks a strong magnetic field, and atmosphere is too thin to stop as much radiation as Earth. However, the planet does reduce the radiation significantly especially on the surface, and it is not detected to be radioactive itself.
The effective radiation emission temperature is a related concept, [2] but focuses on the actual power radiated rather than on the power being received, and so may have a different value if the planet has an internal energy source or when the planet is not in radiative equilibrium.
Radiation (high-energy particles) passes through the skin of the spacecraft and into the electronic components. In most cases, the radiation causes an erroneous signal or changes one bit in memory of a spacecraft's electronics (single event upsets). In a few cases, the radiation destroys a section of the electronics (single-event latchup).