Study suggests Mars may be ‘too dangerous’ for human colonisation

Beyond this point, they claim, radiation levels could become critically unsafe. ‘This study shows that space radiation imposes strict limitations and presents technological difficulties for the human mission to Mars,’ the journal reads.

‘We estimate that a potential mission to Mars should not exceed approximately four years.’

In order to reach this conclusion, SEP and GCR models were used to measure ‘radiation propagation’ inside both a spacecraft and air curtain.

They discovered in the case of the former scenario that a vehicle shielding of 30g/cm2 is ideal. Anything beyond this thickness could reportedly increase secondary radiation and reduce the safety window.

While this intelligence may represent a significant setback in the mission to colonise Mars, there is an upside to the experiment: we now know the optimal time to proceed.

From the collected data, the team have confidently ratified that the safest period to launch any human flight to Mars is during the ‘solar maximum’.

This essentially means that when the sun is most active, fluxes of solar particles will more effectively scatter SEP creating a sort of safety barrier for cosmonauts.

Nevertheless, even under these preferable circumstances, the maximum duration of any mission should still remain under the allotted 48 months.

For all Musk’s endeavour and enthusiasm on his one-man crusade, you can’t avoid the science. Realistically, it seems we’re still a ways off cracking this one.