The Space Travel Conflict: Space Radiation: Cosmic and Solar

I believe we already have the capabilities to create a far more advanced space suit than we already have but why haven’t we? The first space suit was designed on January 1959. The next one came out exactly 8 years after the first suit and finally, the last and current space suit was designed January 5th 1976. Ever since then I believe scientists could have developed at least one more suit with the advances in technology happening today. The reason why I bring this up is because if we as a country want to get our astronauts to mars, we have to stop with the “what if’s” and get to the known factors. The fact of the matter is; we know there is radiation out there, but what is the solution? Spacesuits. We have to develop a way to block out much more radiation with a new advancement or modification to our space suit. This is another issue we have come upon. Scientist’s worry about the cosmic radiation and solar radiation from the Sun, what are we doing about it? I firmly believe that the first step is to enhance the space suit. Currently, the astronauts, when in space, stay around the International Space Station, ISS for short, which is 400 kilometers above the Earth. At that distance they are still protected by the Earth’s Magnetic field therefore the combination between the magnetic field and the astronaut’s space suit is very effective. The astronaut’s space suit blocks a very minimal amount of radiation and the field manages the radiation very effectively. This is why we have not advanced our suit even further. Remember when you first ventured away from your home you were scared to take the first steps alone? That is what is happening here, we are scared to leave the comfort zone of the Earth. It is only when we leave the safety of the magnetic field where we might encounter problems. Honestly when you leave anywhere or go somewhere for the first time you are nervous if you are not prepared. We are not prepared that is the problem. Radiation is out there even here on Earth. We can construct ways to hopefully block out radiation here on Earth 100% with the small amounts of radiation we receive here then, I believe, it should be safer to travel into outer space. I read another blog about the 50/60 ratio, which states, for example, if 100 people are hit by 350REMS of radiation 50% will die within 60 hours the rest within a week. I believe that radiation centralized in one part of the body is less potent to kill someone versus radiation of the same amount spread across the entire body is deadly. 500REMS hit anywhere on the body, centralized or spread throughout the body, is enough to kill someone within a day regardless of where it hits. So with that being said, 1000REMS spread equally over your entire body at once is enough to kill someone within an hour. Having the current space suit on would protect on a very limited scale when it comes to radiation. Some protection is offered by the reflective coatings of Mylar that are built into the suits but other than that not much protection coming from the suits at all. This is why it is imperative that we design a space suit that will protect us from cosmic rays. As of right now all we can do is plan trips on times of low solar activity, which doesn’t account for long extended trips of more than a week. Honestly, it is time to get out there so we can know what is out there and where we can live next. Taking these small steps towards a better suit will help things move along better in the future.

Thank you for reading and I would appreciate if you checked out my social media below! Also on the right-hand side of your screen is a Follow button! If you liked what you read, please share with your friends! If you want to see more, follow my blog so you can be updated when I make a post! 

Twitter @Spacetalk365
Facebook SpaceTalk365
For More Click Here!!!  Home Page: SpaceTalk365

 Bibliography

-->

Satterfield, Dan. How much Radiation does it take to kill you? 1st September 2009. 17th October 2012 <http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/2009/09/01/how-much-radiation-does-it-take-to-kill-you/>.

This source is about how much radiation is in space and on the Earth. It also talks about how much it takes to kill a human. With this site I used the information to realistically look at how an astronaut’s suit would do against the radiation in outer space.

-->

I believe this source is credible because it has cites and gives credits to all of the people the information came from. I believe I would use it in a paper because it has a lot of information on radiation. I found everything I was looking for and more than I thought I would need.