Manifolds and Radiation Protection

Abstract

During the past 40 years humans have travelled beyond Earth’s atmosphere, orbiting the planets for extended periods of time and landing on the Moon. Humans have survived this overwhelming challenge but to assure future exploration of space further expertise in the long term survival in space must be obtained. The International Space Station (ISS) provides this opportunity and allows space scientist to fine-tune their knowledge and prepare for even bolder human space missions. In this work we focus on the aspect of radiation, perhaps the most complex one from a physical and physiological perspective. Travel beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and especially to Moon and Mars requires a precise consideration of the radiation environment as radiation exposure could be a show-stopper. At the moment scientists have not yet developed complete and reliable systems for radiation protection. Most likely an adequate level of protection will be reached through an integrated countermeasure system which could include: shields, monitoring of the environment, drugs to protect from damage, etc.