NASA Can Now Predict Radiation Risks for Astronauts on International Space Station | The Weather Channel – Articles from The Weather Channel |…

Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide poses for a photo after undergoing a generic blood draw in the European Laboratory/Columbus Orbital Facility (COF).

While Astronauts are out discovering the various facets of space, they also face several hazards. In addition to immediate risks like high-speed space debris, equipment malfunction and risky take-off and re-entry, a major, long-term threat is the constant exposure to space radiation. Now, to mitigate these risks, the US space agency NASA has developed a novel method to predict space radiation exposure on the International Space Station.

Space radiation originates from three primary sources: particles trapped in the Earth's magnetic field, particles shot into space during solar flares, and galactic cosmic rays, which originate outside our solar system. Exposure to such radiation causes changes in our DNA and increases the risk of diseases like cancer. This is why NASA has taken this initiative to protect astronauts from such hazards.

As gauging the long-term impact of the space radiation environment on the health of astronauts is challenging, scientists have attempted to measure the changes in an individual's chromosomes. The study's premise is to see how the sensitivity of an astronaut's DNA to radiation exposure on Earth can predict their DNA's response during spaceflight as measured by changes to their chromosomes.

The senior scientist Honglu Wu from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston said, "we wanted to know if it is possible to detect and measure radiation exposure damage in the bodies of astronauts, and if there were differences based on age, sex, and other factors that could be measured before they go into space.

"We hope to use these measurements to help develop and compare methods of protecting astronauts from radiation," he added.

Blood samples were taken by former NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. Samples like these were taken before and after astronauts missions to space to measure radiation damage of astronauts in space.

Researchers studied astronauts' blood cells before they travelled to the station to determine their baseline chromosomal condition, against which any future alterations could be measured. Following that, these blood samples were subjected to gamma-ray radiation on Earth to see how quickly their cells accumulated these chromosomal alterations.

Earlier, people thought that the younger members are at a higher risk in the long-term since radiation exposure can take around 20 years to manifest into health complications like cancer. However, the research now showed that older crew members were more susceptible to chromosomal changes than the younger crew members.

"When thinking about going to Mars, we typically have thought it might be better to send older astronauts because of their experience and lower risk of developing cancer in their lifetime," said Wu. "Now, based on this new research, we know that we should study the age effects of radiation exposure more."

This study was published in the journal Nature-Scientific Reports and can be found here.

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NASA Can Now Predict Radiation Risks for Astronauts on International Space Station | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel |...