[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Op-Ed in International Herald Tribune
When astronauts travel into space they are exposed to
the intense radiation of the two belts of trapped
electrons, the primary cosmic radiation particles and
intense radiations from solar flares. The largest
portion of the dose to the Apollo astronauts was
received when they passed through the earth's
radiation belts so trajectories could be adjusted
somewhat to limit the time in these belts. During
Apollo, the doses to the astronauts ranged from 160 to
1140 mrad. The Skylab missions resulted in doses of
1.6-7.7 rad. The MIR missions resulted in doses more
than 10 times the Skylab doses. During the first 11
Shuttle flights, the doses ranged from about 12-400
mrad with later flights as much as 4.5 rad.
Under normal solar conditions, a subsonic flight at an
altitude of about 11 km from LA to Paris and back
would result in a dose of about 10
mrad. A supersonic flight at an altitude of about 19
km from LA to Paris and back would result in a dose of
about 7 mrad.
During the Solar Max's and increased solar flare
occurences the radiation doses would be much higher.
One should be able to calculate the relative risk from
all of these events.
Astronauts cancer rates are lower than the general
population since they live much healthier life styles
than the general population.
Contact NASA at Johnson Space Center for more info on
this.
Paul W. Shafer
--- Thomas J Savin <tjsav@LYCOS.COM> wrote:
> Greetings all,
>
> One question - What then, or how much, are the
> astronauts/cosmonauts exposed to? Have any of them
> developed cancer? If so, what is their cancer rate
> compared to the "normal population"?
>
> Enjoy,
>
> Tom
>
>
> ---
> Tom Savin
>
> On Thu, 7 Jun 2001 02:13:58
> ROBBARISH wrote:
> >Greetings All:
> >
> >Following the recent publication of two pieces on
> in-flight radiation in the
> >International Herald Tribune, I was invited to
> write an opinion piece for the
> >newspaper
>
>
> Get 250 color business cards for FREE!
> http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/
>
************************************************************************
> You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing
> list. To unsubscribe,
> send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put
> the text "unsubscribe
> radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail,
> with no subject line.
>
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.