Definition
The risk of radiation-induced cancer poses a serious obstacle to long duration spaceflight and planetary exploration. In space, astronauts are exposed to types of radiation not experienced on Earth. The exposures are at low dose rate, but on planned protracted missions or multiple short duration missions, the cumulative doses are large enough to pose an unacceptably high risk of radiation-induced fatal cancer. Currently, astronauts on multiple International Space Station (ISS) missions approach acceptable radiation dose limits. Projected missions such as an asteroid redirect mission or a Mars mission will exceed permissible exposure limits. Research is ongoing to accurately quantify cancer risks from space radiation and to reduce them.
Low LET Radiation and Cancer Risk
Radiation exposure increases cancer risk. The extent of the risk depends on a number of factors including the type of radiation, the total dose received, the length of time over which the exposure occurs, and...
References
Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Genik PC, Fallgren CM, Ullrich RL, Weil MM (2012) Animal studies of charged particle-induced carcinogenesis. Health Phys 103:568–576
Cucinotta FA, Kim MY, Chappell LJ (2013) Space radiation cancer risk projections and uncertainties – 2012. National Aeronautics and Space Administration: NASA/TP-2013-217375
Hassler DM, Zeitlin C, Wimmer-Schweingruber RF, Ehresmann B, Rafkin S, Eigenbrode JL, Brinza DE, Weigle G, Bottcher S, Bohm E, Burmeister S, Guo J, Kohler J, Martin C, Reitz G, Cucinotta FA, Kim MH, Grinspoon D, Bullock MA, Posner A, Gomez-Elvira J, Vasavada A, Grotzinger JP (2014) Mars’ surface radiation environment measured with the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity rover. Science 343:1244797
Preston DL, Ron E, Tokuoka S, Funamoto S, Nishi N, Soda M, Mabuchi K, Kodama K (2007) Solid cancer incidence in atomic bomb survivors: 1958–1998. Radiat Res 168:1–64
Straube U, Berger T, Reitz G, Facius R, Fuglesang C, Reiter T, Damann V, Tognini M (2010) Operational radiation protection for astronauts and cosmonauts and correlated activities of ESA Medical Operations. Acta Astronautica 66:963–969
Zeitlin C, Hassler DM, Cucinotta FA, Ehresmann B, Wimmer-Schweingruber RF, Brinza DE, Kang S, Weigle G, Bottcher S, Bohm E, Burmeister S, Guo J, Kohler J, Martin C, Posner A, Rafkin S, Reitz G (2013) Measurements of energetic particle radiation in transit to Mars on the Mars Science Laboratory. Science 340:1080–1084
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Weil, M.M. (2019). Space-Radiation Induced Carcinogenesis. In: Young, L., Sutton, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Bioastronautics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_26-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_26-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10152-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10152-1
eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Space-Radiation Induced Carcinogenesis- Published:
- 01 November 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_26-2
-
Original
Space-Radiation Induced Carcinogenesis- Published:
- 21 November 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10152-1_26-1