In the mid-2030s, NASA will send astronauts to Mars in what’s likely to be the most dramatic mission since Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon.
During the 250 million mile voyage, the team will face many perils, not least of which is solar radiation: an onslaught of deadly particles from the Sun.
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But now a NASA contractor has unveiled a revolutionary radiation-shielding vest designed to protect astronauts on that mission – and it’s ready for real-world trials.
A sculpture of a man wearing Stemrad's new protective vest.
Amir Cohen / Reuters
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The tailor-made vests use non-metallic materials to shield the astronauts’ organs from harmful, radioactive particles.
During the mission, the vest will be strapped to a device that can monitor radiation absorption and then be compared to an unprotected monitor.
“This product will enable human deep space exploration. Our breakthrough has come in creating the architecture of the multi-layered shield to accurately cover the most important organs,” Milstein told the news agency.
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Amir Cohen / Reuters
The CEO said the concept had been proven in the lab, but to be 100 per cent sure, would be sent up on NASA’s Exploration Mission-1, a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and Lockheed Martin.
As it stands, it will be an unmanned mission. But NASA is considering the viability of sending two astronauts.
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Reuters reported that NASA had “no immediate comment” on how the test would be affected if the mission does become manned.
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Photograph of the Milky Way Galaxy captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Dated 2007.
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Four views of Earth rising above the lunar horizon, photographed by the crew of the Apollo 10 Lunar Module, while in lunar orbit, May 1969.
American geologist and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Hagan Schmitt stands next to the US flag on the surface of the moon, during a period of EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site, December 1972.
The space shuttle 'Enterprise' (NASA Orbiter Vehicle 101) makes its way along Rideout Road (Alabama State Route 255) to the Marshall Space Flight Center near Huntsville, Alabama, 15th March 1978.
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A crowd of people, viewed from behind, watch the launch of the first NASA Space Shuttle mission (STS-1), with Columbia (OV-102) soaring up into the sky, leaving a trail of exhaust smoke, in the distance from the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, 12 April 1981.
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Aerial shot of the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-41-D) as it takes off, leaving a trail of exhaust smoke, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA, 30 August 1984.
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Two technicians inside a Space Shuttle external tank, circa 1985.
An astronaut's bootprint leaves a mark on the lunar surface July 20, 1969 on the moon. The 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon mission is celebrated July 20, 1999.
Astronaut Charles Moss Duke, Jr. leaves a photograph of his family on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, 23rd April 1972.
