Space radiation in moon could hinder upcoming NASA missions

NIRMAL YESODA

It was in the 1960s and 1970s that Nasa, the United States space agency, landed humans on the moon. These missions suggested that humans could stay safely on the Moon for a few days without any problems. However, Nasa did not measure the daily space radiation that hits the moon’s surface. And now, a team of scientists, using the data provided by China’s Chang’e 4 lander, has unveiled the space radiation level in earth’s natural satellite.

According to the new study report, the radiation in the Moon is two to three times higher than the radiation received in the International Space Station (ISS). This is mainly due to the partial protection ISS is receiving from the earth’s magnetosphere. Interestingly, the radiation received on the moon is 200 times higher when compared to the space radiation that hits the earth’s surface.

“The radiation of the Moon is between two and three times higher than what you have on the ISS (International Space Station). So that limits your stay to approximately two months on the surface of the Moon,” Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber, co-author of the study told a news agency.

The new study report comes at a time when the United States is planning to land humans on the moon in 2024. The study report is alarming, and it has made many people believe that NASA is putting the life of astronauts at risk by sending them to the moon again.

Recently, astro-biologist Samantha Rolfe had also expressed similar concerns, and she had claimed that upcoming Mars colonisation missions could turn suicidal, as the Red Planet does not have a magnetosphere of its own.