Moon's hazardous radiation levels pose serious challenge for future lunar missions

Increasing the challenges for future space missions, scientists revealed on Friday, September 25 that the next generation of moon explorers will face two to three times more radiation as compared to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Besides possible health hazards that would require lunar explorers to wear thick-walled suits for protection, the study has put forth the first full measurements of radiation exposure on the moon surface based on the readings derived from China’s lander on the far side of Earth’s natural satellite.

This has summed up to be ‘vital’ information not only for NASA but other agencies who are aiming to send astronauts to the moon. Published in the American journal Sciences Advances, in the study, the Chinese-German team of scientists has reported the information based on the radiation readings collected by the Chinese lander. 

Thomas Berger, a physicist with the Germany Space Agency’s medicine institute hailed the findings as an “immense achievement” while saying that it would provide the experts with a “benchmark” data for radiation from the moon. The astronauts would get 200 to 1,000 times more radiation from the lunar surface than what humans experience on Earth. 

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‘Sky is the source of radiation’

Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber of Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany noted that the moon explorers would be subjected to five to ten times more radiation than the passengers on a trans-Atlantic airline flight with cancer being the primary risk. Not only did he note the incapability of humans to bear such radiation but said the only way astronauts can protect themselves from the hazard is to stay away from the sky. Wimmer-Schweingruber added, “The less you see of the sky, the better” as it is the primary source of the radiation.

“The difference is, however, that we’re not on such a flight for as long as astronauts would be when they’re exploring the moon,” Wimmer-Schweingruber as quoted by AP, “Humans are not really made for these radiation levels and should protect themselves when on the moon.” 

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Inputs: AP/ Image: Representational-Unsplash