Astronauts walking on the surface of the Moon will be exposed to radiation levels 200 times higher than that on Earth,
The first systematically documented measurements of radiation on the Moon were undertaken in January 2019 when China’s Chang’e 4 robotic spacecraft landed on the far side of the Moons, according to an article published in Science Advances. Different sources of lunar radiation include galactic cosmic rays, solar particle events, and neutrons and gamma rays from interactions between space radiation and the lunar soil.
“The radiation levels we measured on the Moon are about 200 times higher than on the surface of the Earth and 5 to 10 times higher than on a flight from New York to Frankfurt,” said Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber, a professor of physics at the University of Kiel in Germany and the corresponding author of the study. “Because astronauts would be exposed to these radiation levels longer than passengers or pilots on transatlantic flights, this is a considerable exposure.”
NASA scientists describe radiation as the “most menacing” of the five main hazards of human space flight, surpassing isolation and confinement, distance from Earth, lack of gravity, and hostile/closed environment.
Chronic exposure to galactic cosmic rays may induce cataracts, cancer or degenerative diseases of the central nervous systems or other organ systems, reports CNN in summarizing the article’s findings. Additionally, the study said, exposure to large solar-particle events without sufficient shielding may cause “severe acute effects.”
Astronauts living on the International Space Station for as long as a year reside within the Earth’s protective magnetic shield. They are exposed to ten times more radiation than what they would experience on Earth, but that’s a small dose compared to what astronauts would be subjected to on the surface of the Moon or in deep space.