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Astronauts exploring the solar system on a Mars mission might experience brain damage because of exposure to space radiation, a new study suggests.
If the results are confirmed by other research, they could have implications for the feasibility of NASA's planned Mars mission, set to take place sometime in the 2030s.
In the study, published Friday in the journal Science Advances, scientists bombarded mice with doses of charged particles that simulate those that astronauts would be exposed to on a trip to Mars. The researchers' goal was to see how the brains of the rodents changed afterward, and the results weren’t exactly heartening for future space explorers. Charles Limoli, a radiation oncology professor at the University of California at Irvine, and his team of researchers found that the mice weren't as curious and became confused after they were blasted with radiation. The mouse brains were also physically altered by the radiation.
The researchers involved in the study concluded that astronauts' cumulative radiation exposure during a Mars mission, which would likely take up to three years, might have cause them to have difficulty focusing or performing certain tasks. The source of the particularly harmful radiation exposure isn't the Sun, but rather galactic cosmic rays — charged particles mostly sent out into the universe during the explosions of dying stars. (Radiation from the Sun can also be dangerous, but it is easier to protect astronauts from.)
“This is not positive news for astronauts deployed on a two- to three-year round trip to Mars,” Limoli said in a statement.
“Performance decrements, memory deficits, and loss of awareness and focus during spaceflight may affect mission-critical activities, and exposure to these particles may have long-term adverse consequences to cognition throughout life.”
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