With the pending return to long-duration crewed spaceflights, astronauts will face significant risks from exposure to space radiation. Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) pose a particular challenge as they are not easily shielded and have dose rates as high as 0.5 mGy/day.

Sustained irradiation to the central nervous system is a major concern, both for long-term astronaut health and overall mission success. Studies in rodents have demonstrated behavioural changes following exposure to radiation doses as low as 50 mGy. Patients treated with radiotherapy have also experienced cognitive and memory impairments, albeit at much higher radiation doses. But accurate risk estimation for astronauts is difficult, in part due to the technical challenges of emulating the broad-spectrum GCR field in a laboratory.

To read more, click here.