A STUDY of the most powerful solar flare of the past 500 years suggests that another like it would carry enough punch to kill astronauts in a poorly shielded spacecraft. The crew of a future mission to Mars might be at risk unless their craft is made of the right materials.
Solar flares send high-energy protons streaming through the solar system, and the radiation is sometimes intense enough to endanger the health of astronauts. In January, the two men on the International Space Station had to shelter in the bulkier Russian side of the station during a particularly powerful series of flares.
Scientists have only been able to directly measure the radiation from solar eruptions for the past four decades. The sun probably produces flares bigger than any seen during this time, so to estimate the worst-case event, they used to simply add together the intensities of two known events, ...
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