page_title: Human mission to Mars
section_title: Medical
hierarchical_section_title: Human mission to Mars / Landing on Mars / Medical
caption_attribution_description: English: PIA17601: Radiation Exposure Comparisons with Mars Trip Calculation 12.09.2013 http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=5771 Measurements with the MSL Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover during the flight to Mars and now on the surface of Mars enable an estimate of the radiation astronauts would be exposed to on an expedition to Mars. NASA reference missions reckon with durations of 180 days for the trip to Mars, a 500-day stay on Mars, and another 180-day trip back to Earth. RAD measurements inside shielding provided by the spacecraft show that such a mission would result in a radiation exposure of about 1 sievert, with roughly equal contributions from the three stages of the expedition. A Sievert is a measurement unit of radiation exposure to biological tissue. This graphic shows the estimated amounts for humans on a Mars mission and amounts for some other activities. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the mission's Curiosity rover for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. Русский: Оценка дозы радиационного излучения, которому подвергнется экипаж потенциальной экспедиции на Марс по схеме "180 дней перелёта + 500 дней на Марсе + 180 дней обратного перелёта на Землю", по результатам измерений детектора оценки радиации на борту марсохода "Curiosity". Крайняя справа колонка - доза облучения за 500 дней нахождения на Марсе, предпоследняя - за время перелёта. Для сравнения показаны (слева направо): средний радиационный фон на Земле на уровне моря, среднегодовой по США фон от различных источников, доза облучения при компьютерной томографии брюшной полости, максимально безопасная норма для работников Министерства энергетики США, средняя доза, получаемая за полгода работы на МКС.
context_page_description: A human mission to Mars has been the subject of science fiction, aerospace engineering and scientific proposals since the 20th century. Plans include landing on Mars for exploration at a minimum, with the possibility of sending settlers and terraforming the planet or exploring its moons Phobos and Deimos also considered.
  The exploration of Mars has been a goal of national space programs for decades. Conceptual work for missions that would involve human explorers has been ongoing since the 1950s, with planned missions typically being stated as taking place anywhere between 10 and 30 years from the time they are drafted. The list of crewed Mars mission plans shows the various mission proposals that have been put forth by multiple organizations and space agencies in this field of space exploration. Plans have varied from scientific expeditions, in which a small group would visit Mars for a period of a few weeks or year, to the permanent colonization of Mars.
  In the 2010s, numerous US, European, and Asian agencies were developing proposals for human missions to Mars. In fiction, Mars is a frequent target of exploration and settlement in books, graphic novels, and films.
context_section_description: There are several key physical challenges for human missions to Mars:
  Health threat from cosmic rays and other ionizing radiation. In May 2013, NASA scientists reported that a possible mission to Mars may involve great radiation risk based on energetic particle radiation measured by the RAD on the Mars Science Laboratory while traveling from the Earth to Mars in 2011–2012. The calculated radiation dose was 0.66 sieverts round-trip. The agency's career radiation limit for astronauts is 1 sievert. In mid-September 2017, NASA reported temporarily doubled radiation levels on the surface of Mars, with an aurora 25 times brighter than any observed earlier, due to a massive unexpected solar storm.
  Adverse health effects of prolonged weightlessness, including eyesight impairment. (Depends on mission and spacecraft design.) In November 2019, researchers reported that astronauts experienced serious blood flow and clot problems while on board the International Space Station, based on a six-month study of 11 healthy astronauts. The results may influence long-term spaceflight, including a mission to the planet Mars, according to the researchers.
  Psychological effects of isolation from Earth and, by extension, the lack of community due to lack of a real-time connection with Earth. (Compare Hermit.)
  Social effects of several humans living under cramped conditions for more than one Earth year, and possibly two or three years, depending on spacecraft and mission design.
  Lack of medical facilities.
  Potential failure of propulsion or life-support equipment.
  Some of these issues were estimated statistically in the HUMEX study.
  Ehlmann and others have reviewed political and economic concerns, as well as technological and biological feasibility aspects. While fuel for roundtrip travel could be a challenge, methane and oxygen can be produced using Martian H₂O (preferably as water ice instead of liquid water) and atmospheric CO₂ with mature technology.
caption: Comparison of radiation doses – includes the amount detected on the trip from Earth to Mars by the RAD inside the MSL (2011–2013).[16][17][18] Vertical axis is in logarithmic scale, so the dose over a Mars year is about 15 times the DOE limit, not less than twice, as a quick glance might suggest. The actual dose would depend on factors such as spacecraft design and natural events such as solar flares.
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