In this Sept. 2, 2020 file photo, the full moon shines surrounded by clouds in the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany. Future moon explorers will face ultrahazardous radiation levels. That's the conclusion of a new study published by Chinese and German scientists Friday, Sept. 25. The researchers say astronauts on the moon will be bombarded with two to three times more radiation than astronauts currently circling Earth aboard the International Space Station.(AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
By Marcia Dunn
Future moon explorers will be bombarded with two to three times more radiation than astronauts aboard the International Space Station, a health hazard that will require thick-walled shelters for protection, scientists reported Friday.
China’s lander on the far side of the moon is providing the first full measurements of radiation exposure from the lunar surface, vital information for NASA, and others aiming to send astronauts to the moon, the study noted.
A Chinese-German team reported on the radiation data collected by the lander — named Chang’e 4 for the Chinese moon goddess — in the U.S. journal Science Advances.
“This is an immense achievement in the sense that now we have a data set which we can use to benchmark our radiation" and better understand the potential risk to people on the moon, said Thomas Berger, a physicist with the German Space Agency's medicine institute.
Astronauts would get 200 to 1,000 times more radiation on the moon than what we experience on Earth — or five to 10 times more than passengers on a trans-Atlantic airline flight, noted Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber of Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany.
“The difference is, however, that we’re not on such a flight for as long as astronauts would be when they’re exploring the moon,” Wimmer-Schweingruber said in an email.
Cancer is the primary risk.
“Humans are not really made for these radiation levels and should protect themselves when on the moon,” he added.
Radiation levels should be pretty much the same all over the moon, except for near the walls of deep craters, Wimmer-Schweingruber said.
“Basically, the less you see of the sky, the better. That’s the primary source of the radiation,” he said.
Wimmer-Schweingruber said the radiation levels are close to what models had predicted. The levels measured by Chang'e 4, in fact, “agree nearly exactly” with measurements by a detector on a NASA orbiter that has been circling the moon for more than a decade, said Kerry Lee, a space radiation expert at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“It is nice to see confirmation of what we think and our understanding of how radiation interacts with the moon is as expected,” said Lee, who was not involved in the Chinese-led study.
In a detailed outline released this week, NASA said the first pair of astronauts to land on the moon under the new Artemis program would spend about a week on the lunar surface, more than twice as long as the Apollo crews did a half-century ago. Expeditions would last one to two months once a base camp is established.
NASA is looking to put astronauts on the moon by the end of 2024, an accelerated pace ordered by the White House, and on Mars sometime in the 2030s.
The space agency said it will have radiation detectors and a safe shelter aboard all Orion crew capsules flying to the moon. As for the actual landers, three separate corporate teams are developing their own craft with NASA oversight. For the first Artemis moon landing, at least, the astronauts will live in the ascent portion of their lander.
The German researchers suggest shelters built of moon dirt — readily available material — for stays of more than a few days. The walls should be 80 centimeters (about 2 1/2 feet) thick, they said. Any thicker and the dirt will emit its own secondary radiation, created when galactic cosmic rays interact with the lunar soil.
"So in this sense — I think the walls of European Castles would be too thick!" Berger wrote in an email.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Plant-based meat giant Beyond Meat's reign over the fast food world continues, as McDonald's announced that it is expanding its test of Beyond's McPlant burger, to nearly 600 restaurants, an increase from the eight that it's been testing in since November. This comes less than two weeks after Beyond Fried Chicken made its nationwide debut at KFC restaurants, the first time that plant based chicken has been widely distributed in a fast food capacity. Arun Sundaram, Senior Equity Analyst at CFRA Research explains why these latest collaborations may be proof that Beyond Meat products could slowly be becoming an unlikely staple in the fast food and chain restaurant world as consumers opt for more healthy food options.
BD Veritor is a variation of the at-home COVID test that uses a smartphone to interpret the results. The test is taken via a nose swab test strip that is then scanned by your phone’s camera with the result clearly displayed as positive or negative. James Walker, vice president of integrated diagnostics USA for BD, joined Cheddar to discuss how the test hopefully takes the "guesswork out of testing." Walker also went into what BD is doing to deal with the surging demand for at-home tests amid the omicron spread. "While we don't disclose how much we produce, we have capacity to manufacture up to 12 million rapid antigen tests per month and are delivering on our commitments to distributors and retailers," he said.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: Sidechef CEO breaks down how it's building a platform to make recipe shopping easy; Luum CEO explains the process of having a robot put on eyelash extensions; A look at Curiosity Stream's new original series, 'Evolve.'
Moderna launched a clinical trial of a COVID-19 booster shot specifically targeting the omicron variant. The first participant has already received a dose, and Moderna expects to enroll about 600 adults total, split between two groups. In the first group, participants will have previously received two doses of the Moderna vaccine, and in the second, participants will have received its booster. Dr. Paul Burton, chief medical officer at Moderna, joined Cheddar’s Opening Bell to discuss the trial, yearly boosters, and what lies ahead for the company.
With the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics right around the corner, experts are warning that climate change is threatening not only the event but also the future of snow sports. Despite being the world's top polluter, China is hoping to use the event to demonstrate the country's commitment to fighting climate change, and pledging to host a "low carbon" games. Xubin Zeng, professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona, joins Cheddar News.
New research is suggesting that giving extra cash to low-income mothers can actually influence the brain development of their infants. These findings provide the first rigorous evidence of how payments and monetary support can affect children in the early years of life. Authors of the study, Nathan Fox, professor in the department of human development at the University of Maryland, and Sonya Troller-Renfree, postdoctoral research associate at Teachers College at Columbia University, join Cheddar News to discuss.
Communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change and continuously feel the impacts. Mark Magaña, founding president and CEO of Green Latinos joined All Hands to discuss.
