First measurements of the radiation dose on the lunar surface

Zhang, Shenyi; Wimmer‐Schweingruber, Robert F.; Yu, Jia; Wang, Chi; Fu, Qiang; Zou, Yongliao; Sun, Yueqiang; Wang, Chunqin; Hou, Dianwei; Böttcher, S.; Burmeister, Sönke; Seimetz, L.; Schuster, Björn; Knierim, V.; Shen, Guohong; Yuan, Bin; Lohf, H.; Guo, Jingnan; Xu, Zigong; Forstner, J. L. Freiherr von; Kulkarni, S. R.; Xu, Haitao; Xue, Changbin; Li, Jun; Zhang, Zhe; Zhang, He; Berger, Thomas; Matthiä, Daniel; Hellweg, Christine E.; Hou, Xifeng; Cao, Jinbin; Chang, Zhen; Zhang, Binquan; Chen, Yuesong; Geng, Hao; Quan, Zida

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aaz1334

Cited by 103 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…These values are much higher than the average worldwide background. The surfaces of the Moon and Mars appear to be more radioactive: According to the time of day, the natural radiation backgrounds assessed on the Moon and Mars are 110–380 and 130–260 mSv/y, respectively [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 ] ( Table 1 and Table 2 ). This is mainly due to the absence of significant magnetic protection and to a higher telluric component.…”

Section: The Three Sources Of Ionizing Radiation Emitted From Spacmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The relevance of weighting factors W will be discussed in the following paragraphs. Notwithstanding the question of relevance, a non-exhaustive list of reports on estimated doses of spatial interest shows a relatively good agreement between the absorbed doses and the effective doses proposed for the ISS, Moon and Mars [47][48][49][50][51][52] (Table 1). Again, the range of values are explained by solar modulation.…”

Section: From the Assessment Of The Absorbed Dose To The Calculation mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Radiation on Earth or in Space: What Does It Change?

Restier-Verlet

El-Nachef

Ferlazzo

et al. 2021

IJMS

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After having been an instrument of the Cold War, space exploration has become a major technological, scientific and societal challenge for a number of countries. With new projects to return to the Moon and go to Mars, radiobiologists have been called upon to better assess the risks linked to exposure to radiation emitted from space (IRS), one of the major hazards for astronauts. To this aim, a major task is to identify the specificities of the different sources of IRS that concern astronauts. By considering the probabilities of the impact of IRS against spacecraft shielding, three conclusions can be drawn: (1) The impacts of heavy ions are rare and their contribution to radiation dose may be low during low Earth orbit; (2) secondary particles, including neutrons emitted at low energy from the spacecraft shielding, may be common in deep space and may preferentially target surface tissues such as the eyes and skin; (3) a “bath of radiation” composed of residual rays and fast neutrons inside the spacecraft may present a concern for deep tissues such as bones and the cardiovascular system. Hence, skin melanoma, cataracts, loss of bone mass, and aging of the cardiovascular system are possible, dependent on the dose, dose-rate, and individual factors. This suggests that both radiosusceptibility and radiodegeneration may be concerns related to space exploration. In addition, in the particular case of extreme solar events, radiosensitivity reactions—such as those observed in acute radiation syndrome—may occur and affect blood composition, gastrointestinal and neurologic systems. This review summarizes the specificities of space radiobiology and opens the debate as regards refinements of current radiation protection concepts that will be useful for the better estimation of risks.

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Section: The Three Sources Of Ionizing Radiation Emitted From Spacmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: From the Assessment Of The Absorbed Dose To The Calculation mentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation on Earth or in Space: What Does It Change?

Restier-Verlet

El-Nachef

Ferlazzo

et al. 2021

IJMS

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“…In Szocik's view, space colonization should arise more naturally and ethically within the standard context of space exploration and commerce, which might eventually lead to colonies on the Moon or Mars. For many reasons, including low availability of CO 2 on Mars and an unexpectedly intense radiation environment on the Moon (Zhang et al, 2020), space colonies of these types are unrealistic vehicles to ensure even short-term human survival (Klee, 2017;Edwards, 2021b). Szocik's position is somewhat unusual in this regard, as he himself has extensively detailed the extremely harsh conditions that such colonies would face, particularly in regard to space radiation (Szocik, 2020(Szocik, , 2021bSzocik and Braddock, 2019).…”

Section: Only Embryo Missions Could Secure Human Survivalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space ectogenesis: securing survival of humans and Earth life with minimal risks – reply to Szocik

Edwards

2021

International Journal of Astrobiology

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Assuming that securing the long-term survival of humans and Earth life is a valid goal, we briefly compare the strategies of building standard space colonies, such as on Mars, and embryo space colonization (ESC). In ESC embryos of humans and other Earth species would be sent to exoplanets and raised there via ectogenesis and android assistants. We find that the potential for securing long-term survival is far greater for ESC than for standard colonies, while the bioethical and other risks are far fewer.

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“…A Monte Carlo simulation study compared the radiation dose levels at low Earth orbit, interplanetary free space, and lunar and martian surfaces and pointed out that there would be a much higher dose level in deep space (Sato et al, 2018). Another Monte Carlo simulation study estimated the radiation dose on the lunar surface was *420 mSv/year (Naito et al, 2020a), and such a value was measured with the radiation dose monitor aboard China's Chang'E 4 lander (Zhang et al, 2020). It has been estimated that interplanetary free space cruising would result in a dose of *660 mSv for even the shortest round-trip case to Mars (Zeitlin et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space Radiation Dosimetry at the Exposure Facility of the International Space Station for the Tanpopo Mission

et al. 2021

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Radiation dosimetry was carried out at the exposure facility (EF) and the pressurized module (PM) of the Japanese Kibo module installed in the International Space Station as one study on environmental monitoring for the Tanpopo mission. Three exposure panels and three references including biological and organic samples and luminescence dosimeters were launched to obtain data for different exposure durations during 3 years from May 2015 to July 2018. The dosimeters were equipped with additional shielding materials (0.55, 2.95, and 6.23 g/cm 2 mass thickness). The relative dose variation, as a function of shielding mass thickness, was observed and compared with Monte Carlo simulations with respect to galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) and typical solar energetic particles (SEPs). The mean annual dose rates were D EF = 231 -5 mGy/year at the EF and D PM = 82 -1 mGy/ year at the PM during the 3 years. The PM is well shielded, and the GCR simulation indicated that the measured mean dose reduction ratio inside the module (D PM /D EF = 0.35) required *26 g/cm 2 additional shielding mass thickness. Observed points of the dose reduction tendency could be explained by the energy ranges of protons (10-100 MeV), where the protons passed through, or were absorbed in, the shielding materials of different mass thickness that surrounded dosimeters.

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First measurements of the radiation dose on the lunar surface

Cited by 103 publications

References 24 publications

Radiation on Earth or in Space: What Does It Change?

Radiation on Earth or in Space: What Does It Change?

Space ectogenesis: securing survival of humans and Earth life with minimal risks – reply to Szocik

Space Radiation Dosimetry at the Exposure Facility of the International Space Station for the Tanpopo Mission

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