Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Can Solar Flares Hurt Astronauts?

Can Solar Flares Hurt Astronauts?:

Expedition 29 astronaut Ron Garan looks down on the coast of Australia from the safety of the ISS. (NASA)

Solar flares, coronal mass ejections, high-energy photons, cosmic rays… space is full of various forms of radiation that a human wouldn’t want to be exposed to for very long. Energized particles traveling into and through the body can cause a host of nasty health problems, from low blood count to radiation sickness to cataracts and cancer… and potentially even death. Luckily Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere protects us on the surface from much of this radiation, but what about the astronauts aboard the Space Station? How could events such as today’s powerful near-X-class solar flare and last week’s CME affect them, orbiting 240 miles above Earth’s surface?

Surprisingly, they are safer than you might think.

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Read the rest of Can Solar Flares Hurt Astronauts? (590 words)



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