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*I know the plan for Mars Direct, in the event of a solar flare, is for the astronauts to head for the airlock, which will act as a storm shelter for the crew.
What I'm wondering is how long they would have to stay in the airlock? How long will the effects of a solar flare (say a flare of medium intensity...I don't know how they are graded) present a danger to the astronauts?
I'm also wondering what the plan (if any) is for astronauts in a rover, if a solar flare should occur? If they are 5 km from base and a solar flare occurs (which can happen unpredictably, the particles of which can reach the Earth in a mere 9 minutes...guesstimate 15 minutes to reach Mars??), what then?
Maybe these questions have already been answered, but geez we've got so many threads now...
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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Adrian: Problem...this topic duplicated itself. I only created a New Topic for this once.
--Cindy
We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...
--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)
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According to Zubrin solar flares are only a problem in interplanetary space (or the Moon). The Martian atmosphere shields most of the solar flare particles. Read all about it under Radiation Hazards on page 114 of Case for Mars.
Here's an example of what an astronaut could expect during a large solar flare:
in the Hab: 38 rem
in the Hab storm shelter: 8 rem
on surface outside the shelter: 10 rem
on surface inside the shelter: 3 rem
I would suggest designing the rover with a storm shelter also. The water, fuel, and food could be stacked around and on top of say the beds. When a solar flare hits you just go in and take a nap. To my understanding they don't last more than a few hours. According to the numbers Zubrin gives us you could expect to get hit with less than 10 rem.
P.S. Every 50 rem of radiation increases an astronauts chance of getting fatal cancer later on in life by less than 1%.
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